(Ed.'s Note: The following was an open letter to the mayor and village board and is printed here at the author's request.)

The most recent issue of the Bugle, an American Legion publication, states "The Post made a contribution to the Mineola Volunteer Ambulance which serves Garden City when they are called, which is often. They are soliciting funds from Garden City residents."

Every community that surrounds Garden City has its own emergency ambulance volunteer corps; among them, New Hyde Park, Mineola, and Stewart Manor. Garden City on the other hand, depends on Nassau County for its emergency ambulance service. When questioned, our public officials from the WPOA state that it is being studied but that it may be too expensive. This position has been taken for about three to four years. If these other communities have their own emergency medical services why don't we?

The basic reason may be that our priorities are ruled by politics rather than the need of the citizens.

We average approximately five building fires a year. There are other minor fires.

We have a paid fire department consisting of 34 members with a budget of approximately $2,400,000, which is constantly increasing. Only one other community on Long Island has a paid fire department. It is the City of Long Beach whose paid fire department is composed of 16 paid members with a budget of approximately $1,500,000. All other communities rely on volunteers with great success.

New York City is in the process of combining its fire department with its emergency medical services. Most experts agree that this combination offers optimum results.

The obvious question that arises; are we overstaffed with paid firefighters? Do the number of major fires that occur each year require such an entourage especially when we have 90 excellent volunteer firemen?

Our firefighters' contract runs out in the year 2000. Steps should be taken to insure that commencing the year 2000, Garden City has its own emergency ambulance service.

There are many ways that this can be accomplished without adding costs, (except perhaps start-up costs):

1. Starting a separate volunteer ambulance service.

2. Integrating a volunteer ambulance service with the paid firefighter and/or the volunteer fire department.

3. Cutting down the number of paid firefighters by attrition as they retire from service to the number that are now employed by the City of Long Beach.

4. Training the firefighters as emergency medical technicians.

5. Abolishing the paid fire department by attrition.

6. Relieving the police department of the responsibility of responding to emergency calls and/or ensuring that the police officers are trained as emergency medical technicians and that their certificates are kept up to date. Currently only 92 percent of the police officers are so qualified, according to a WPOA trustee.

7. Studying our library which is probably the most expensive to run on the Island for areas to cut back and bring salaries and other expenses in line with other communities. It costs about $2,500,000 a year to operate. It should be remembered several of our schools have their own libraries.

8. Any studied combination of these guidelines.

A study should be initiated immediately to ensure that, before the police or firefighters contracts are extended, the problem of ambulance service for Garden City is internally solved.

While we are advised the response time is approximately four minutes, the only ambulances I have seen on Glen Road are from Mineola and Stewart Manor. Is the response time that of our police or the Nassau County Ambulance?

Emergency medical services are just as important as firefighting services, if not more so. With appropriate integration of our services, the additional costs involved if any should be minor over the long run.

Now is the time to act. What do you think?

P.S.: At the recent firefighters' rescue involving the LILCO building the use of a 100 foot tower ladder was one of the important ingredients. This ladder was the property of Hempstead. Do we have such a ladder? A stick ladder is certainly not as effective.

P.P.S.: During this year one of our resident attorneys collapsed and died at a Garden City train station. What was the response time in that incident?