Volunteer Strong: McGregor Memorial EMS

Many of us began our careers by donating time to local volunteer squads. The lessons we learned aided our development while reinforcing the value of helping others. EMS World is proud to publicize those institutions for being volunteer strong. This month we feature McGregor Memorial EMS of New Hampshire.

McGregor Summary

• Link to agency website
• Founded: 1968
• Area served: Durham, Lee, Madbury, University of New Hampshire
• Approximate population served: 22,600
• Approximate annual call volume: 2,200
• Volunteers: 60
• Paid personnel: 17

School of ROSC

If you’re a student at the University of New Hampshire and you find neither the school’s 200-plus curricula offerings nor its proximity to Boston (70 miles) enough to keep you occupied, there’s always McGregor Memorial EMS—a mostly volunteer organization on the Durham campus that covers the towns of Lee and Madbury in addition to Durham.

“About a third of our members attend UNH,” says Chris Lemelin, McGregor’s executive director, who joined the squad as a freshman EMT. He credits the college’s academic departments for fostering a “symbiotic relationship” with his agency.

“We try to become known to students early in their careers. A lot of the premed and PA students want to get some medical experience. Often they’re referred to us by faculty, but we also show up in their classes to talk about the benefits of volunteering here. That has a pretty big impact.”

So does teamwork with neighboring agencies. “We check with the other area volunteer departments to make sure we’re collaborating on recruiting,” says the 37-year-old AEMT and RN. “It’s a marketing effort—a matter of maintaining a public presence. I have a meeting with the Rotary Club about that next week.”

More important to McGregor’s bottom line, according to Lemelin, are the EMT, AEMT, and CPR courses it offers to the community. “Not only are those classes our best recruiting tools, but they also generate income—perhaps as much as 15% of our budget,” he says.

Flexing Policy to Fit Membership

Turning EMS classes into revenue-producing activities isn’t the only forward-looking practice at McGregor.

“We have a volunteerism committee that took on the challenge of how to better meet the expectations of the public,” Lemelin says. “One of the recommendations was to split membership into two categories: ‘premier’ and ‘enduring.’

“Premier membership requires 48 hours a month and is mostly for the students. Enduring membership is for citizens of the community who can’t commit that much time but who’ll stay with us for more than a year or two. We ask them for 24 hours a month.”

Another change recommended by the volunteerism committee was discrete four- and eight-hour shifts to replace the scheduling free-for-all that had members coming and going at different times. “You used to be able to sign up for whatever hours were convenient for you,” says Matt Willett, chair of McGregor’s board of directors. “That left critical gaps at certain times of the day. We figured it would be risky to insist on block scheduling, but I’ve been surprised at how successful it’s been.”

Those improvements, combined with paid paramedics 24/7 and a second salaried crew member in house Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., ensures McGregor can answer 98%–99% of its 2,200 calls each year. “That’s higher than any other EMS provider on the [New Hampshire] seacoast,” says Lemelin.

Centralized Administration, Decentralized Operations

Unlike some volunteer agencies, McGregor relies on administrative staff—professional managers like Lemelin, who’s a paid employee of the organization, and Willett, an engineer with an MBA—rather than operational officers for strategic direction. “Instead of a chief, we have a committee of captains who make day-to-day decisions,” says Willett.

Those captains are chosen from crew chiefs, who must pass written and practical tests to earn supervisory roles. “It usually takes at least a year of field experience to advance to that level,” Lemelin adds.

An example of McGregor’s decentralized operations is the responsibility members share for in-house staffing. “Say we have three people in quarters,” Lemelin offers. “Two go out on a call. That leaves one person for the next crew. That member will use an app called GroupMe to send everyone a message, ‘Hey, I’m here by myself. I need help in case there’s another call.’”

Primary Care

But Lemelin feels neither titles nor tools are the most noteworthy aspects of his agency. “I think the breadth of our services is what’s most exciting about McGregor,” he says. “Serving a residential community and a college campus at the same time can create some interesting challenges. For example, we just covered an 8,000-person rally for one of the presidential candidates. A volunteer squad providing as many as seven ambulances simultaneously is, I think, pretty unique.”

Chris, you might even get bipartisan agreement on that.

Mike Rubin is a paramedic in Nashville and a member of EMS World’s editorial advisory board. Contact him at mgr22@prodigy.net.