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Berkshire County Emergency Medical Service Providers Earn Statewide Honor

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Four Berkshire County emergency medical services providers are being recognized Tuesday as Massachusetts Stars of Life by the Massachusetts Ambulance Association.
 
The MAA will hosts its second annual Convoy of Champions ambulance parade from Worcester's University of Massachusetts Medical Science Park to the the Boston MedFlight hangar in Bedford for a Stars of Life Medallion and Pin Ceremony at 1:10 on Tuesday afternoon.
 
Twenty-two professionals are being honored statewide. Among them are Chris Bargmann and George Beckwith of Northern Berkshire EMS and Erica Bulshey and Shannon Regan of County Ambulance.
 
Bargmann, a paramedic, joined North Adams-based Northern Berkshire EMS last year after a four-year career in the field in Massachusetts. His service has included time with Action Ambulance, the Hadley Fire Department and the Northampton Fire Department.
 
Beckwith has been with Northern Berkshire EMS, formerly North Adams Ambulance, since 1989 as an emergency medical technician. "The war stories George has accumulated over the years are unmatched," according to a testimonial on the MAA's Facebook page. "You can always find him in the bay sharing a tale from back in the day when paramedics didn't exist and you had to improvise with what you had on the rig."
 
Bulshey came to Pittsfield's County Ambulance as an EMT in 2008 after serving as volunteer first-responder with the Florida Fire Department since 2001. In 2011, she earned certification as an advanced EMT. "She was one of the original members of the County Ambulance COVID response team," her testimonial reads. "Erica has taken a lead role on the team helping coordinate the many testing operations and most recently assisting with our vaccination site efforts."
 
Regan, a paramedic and field training officer at County Ambulance, began her career with the service in 2009 as a basic EMT. "Shannon is tenacious in her review and knowledge of the statewide treatment protocols and company policies," according to her testimonial. "She is known for clinical excellence and ability to keep teamwork at the forefront when dealing with complicated calls."
 
The Massachusetts Ambulance Association includes more than 30 ambulance service providers with 6,000 employees.
 
Tuesday's parade and ceremony are being held in conjunction with the 46th annual National EMS Week.

Tags: first responders,   recognition event,   

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RFP Ready for North County High School Study

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The working group for the Northern Berkshire Educational Collaborative last week approved a request for proposals to study secondary education regional models.
 
The members on Tuesday fine-tuned the RFP and set a date of Tuesday, Jan. 20, at 4 p.m. to submit bids. The bids must be paper documents and will be accepted at the Northern Berkshire School Union offices on Union Street.
 
Some members had penned in the first week of January but Timothy Callahan, superintendent for the North Adams schools, thought that wasn't enough time, especially over the holidays.
 
"I think that's too short of a window if you really want bids," he said. "This is a pretty substantial topic."
 
That topic is to look at the high school education models in North County and make recommendations to a collaboration between Hoosac Valley Regional and Mount Greylock Regional School Districts, the North Adams Public Schools and the town school districts making up the Northern Berkshire School Union. 
 
The study is being driven by rising costs and dropping enrollment among the three high schools. NBSU's elementary schools go up to Grade 6 or 8 and tuition their students into the local high schools. 
 
The feasibility study of a possible consolidation or collaboration in Grades 7 through 12 is being funded through a $100,000 earmark from the Fair Share Act and is expected to look at academics, faculty, transportation, legal and governance issues, and finances, among other areas. 
 
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