Public Safety
Hoosic Valley Rescue Squad
Advanced life support ambulance service for the Town of Schaghticoke — including Speigletown — 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
About the squad
The Hoosic Valley Rescue Squad provides advanced life support (ALS) emergency medical service and ambulance transport to the Town of Schaghticoke, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Founded in 1959 and run by a volunteer board of directors with a paid staff of paramedics and EMTs supplemented by volunteers, the squad answers roughly 1,000 calls a year.
Non-emergency questions — billing, records, standby requests, or how to help — go to 518-753-6634 or supervisors@hvrsny.com. Business meetings are held the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM.
The ambulances
The squad runs three advanced-life-support ambulances — units 5321, 5322, and 5323 — out of Station 53. In March 2024 it put the two newest rigs (5322 and 5323) into service, equipped with up-to-date technology and safety features, and kept the older 5321 as a reserve. The squad thanked the town board and taxpayers for their support.
Medic 5321
Type III ambulance (older / reserve)
- Advanced Life Support
- Kept in the fleet as a reserve rig
Medic 5322
Type III ambulance (2024)
- Advanced Life Support
- Delivered new in 2024
Medic 5323
Type III ambulance (2024)
- Advanced Life Support
- Delivered new in 2024
What the town pays for EMS
The Hoosic Valley Rescue Squad is a non-profit, but the bulk of its coverage is paid for by the Town of Schaghticoke under an annual contract — that's the EMS line you see on your town tax bill. For 2026 the town budgeted:
- EMS — EMT & paramedics contract $706,580
- Rescue squad (general) $28,400
- Total to the squad, 2026 $734,980
These amounts come from the town budget adopted in the January 6, 2026 organizational meeting. They are what the Town of Schaghticoke pays the squad each year for staffed ambulance and advanced-life-support coverage — the service your town tax dollars help fund. See the 2026 organizational minutes →
Services & community programs
- Advanced life support (ALS) ambulance response and transport, staffed by paramedics and EMTs
- Emergency medical coverage for the Town of Schaghticoke, including Speigletown, 24/7/365
- Stand-by coverage for community events
- Community CPR and Stop the Bleed classes
- Narcan (naloxone) training for community members, in partnership with the Rensselaer County Department of Health
- Community blood drives hosted at the squad building on Route 40
Join the agency
Paramedics needed
The squad hires paramedics and EMTs — competitive pay at $25.25 / hour ($2.00 / hour weekend differential), on modern, well-equipped rigs. Volunteers are welcome too.
On the trucks:
- UE Scope video laryngoscopy
- Stryker Power-LOAD stretcher systems
- LUCAS 3 mechanical CPR devices
- LIFEPAK 15 monitors
- ZOLL emsCharts electronic charting
Board of directors
The squad is a non-profit corporation governed by a volunteer board of directors. Officers as listed in the squad's most recent public filing (2025):
- Chairman Scott Savaria
- Vice Chairman Ernest Bebernitz
- Treasurer Roger Holmes
- Secretary Paul Koberger
- Director Dominic Pasinella