NEW BERLIN – The Village of New Berlin held its monthly board meeting on Tuesday, where they discussed additional compensation for volunteers of the Ambulance Service.

During the meeting, EMS Administrator Dale Barton requested additional compensation for ambulance drivers as well as the Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Life Support (ALS) crews. They work as a tier system, with ALS being at the top followed by BLS.

“I would start with the BLS crew,” Barton said. “I believe the BLS crew right now are getting $10.50 to start. I think they’re worth a little bit more.”

Barton said the members of the BLS crew aren’t on the schedule, they just fill in when he can’t fill the ALS spots. “I’d like to see their rate of $10.50 go up to at least $12.”

“The second thing,” Barton said, “is my [ambulance] drivers. My drivers have been on 12 hour shifts, some work 24 hour shifts, and they’re getting $25 for 12 hours which is a little over $2 an hour. At the end of the year, if it’s over $600 they still have to pay taxes on what they get.”