By Guy Page

The Burlington Fire Department today, Monday October 16, will roll out a Community Response Team (CRT), featuring a current department-owned vehicle staffed by two BFD employees to act as a first response to calls of suspected overdoses and reports of unresponsive patients. 

Staff will make patient contact, determine the level of medical emergency, provide immediate lifesaving interventions such as Narcan, provide respiratory support via Bag Valve Mask if needed, and request additional resources, such as an ambulance for transport. If intervention is either not needed or refused, BFD employees will be able to provide additional resources such as overdose leave-behind kits, testing strips, information about additional health services, BFD Chief Mike LaChance said in a recent statement.

During the six-month pilot period, this service’s cost will be paid for with City Opioid Settlement Funds. BFD will seek sustainable funding opportunities other than the General Fund or the City Opioid Money Fund, including potential grants from State Opioid Settlement Funds intended to support treatment and harm reduction outreach.

Ski area with the most full time employees is……not Stowe Mountain Resort (third, with 650). Not Smugglers Notch (tied for fourth with Mt. Snow, with 350). The Vermont ski area with the most employees is Killington Resort in Rutland County, with 1000 employees, according to the VBM Book of Lists. Is is reportedly “the largest ski resort in the East.” Jay Peak (800) was second. 

Fined for water supply violations – The Agency of Natural Resources Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced last week that Ascutney Fire District #2, the owner and operator of a public water system in Weathersfield, was fined $4,000 for violations of the Vermont Water Supply Rule (VWSR) and has been directed to bring the water system into compliance.

The Fire District owns and operates a public drinking water system in Weathersfield that serves approximately 485 residential users through 200 service connections. The Fire District lacked a certified operator in 2021 and 2022. It also failed to monitor the water for disinfectant byproducts each August from 2020 through 2022 and failed to sample the water for lead and copper between June 1 and September 30, 2022. 

The Fire District retained a certified operator in 2023 and agreed to pay a fine of $4,000 for the violations.

About Vermont Daily Chronicle: every weekday, we publish 10 Vermont-related news and commentary articles. Subscriptions to Vermont Daily Chronicle are free. Subscribing takes less than one minute: click here to subscribe and receive the daily edition in your email. The Vermont Daily Chronicle is supported almost exclusively by Contributing Readers who appreciate our unique place in the Vermont news media and generously give $108/year (some give more, some less) via PayPal or by writing a check to Vermont Daily Chronicle, P.O. Box 1547, Montpelier Vermont, 05641.