ROUSES POINT — The Champlain-Mooers Emergency Services celebrated 50 years in service Saturday.
Emergency service members gathered at the American Legion Post 912 for dinner and an awards ceremony. The event was open to all first responders who served the agency, as well as their families and local dignitaries.
“This is a celebration of 50 years of this partnership and all of our accomplishments this year,” Champlain-Mooers EMS Captain Cory Thompson said.
Champlain EMS was founded in 1976 as a fire department-based volunteer ambulance service, known at the time as Champlain Rescue, Inc.
Founding members Gerald Mayo, James Wells, Albert Morelli, Dr. John Southwick, Al Strack, Mary Landry, Dan Mahar, Patti Hicks and Judy Duquette all joined firefighters Ken LaPlante, Ray Freeman, Allen Peryea, Brenda Peryea, Debbie Goss and Dave Blixt as part of the inception of Champlain EMS.
In 1999, Champlain EMS was named EMS Agency of the Year, the highest recognition in New York state.
With rising call volumes in 2001, paid EMS staff became a necessity to help cover day-time calls. LaPlante formed a committee with Chris Trombley, Tammy Trombley and Southwick to form the nonprofit Champlain EMS, Inc., separating the ambulance from the fire department.
In 2007, Champlain EMS merged with the Mooers EMS, allowing for increases in coverage, ambulances, stations, volunteers and paid staff.
Champlain Fire District Commissioner Chris Trombly said the milestone is an exciting and proud moment.
“I have been a proud member since 1987 — this started off in the fire department. There were a lot fewer members,” he said, emphasizing the agency’s growth in membership, leadership and service.
“Everything evolves. Not only the equipment, but the people. We have a lot more paid members, less volunteers. We are pretty fortunate.”
He said the event Saturday night exemplifies his favorite aspect of the job, the people.
“This right here, the people, the cooperation. It is a second family, so to speak. I don’t remember all the calls; I will never forget the people I work with,” Chris Trombley said.
PAST VS PRESENT
In 1976, Champlain Rescue bought their first ambulance for $14,500. Today, an ambulance costs about $375,000, according to Thompson.
Champlain Rescue raised $30,000 as a starting budget in 1976. Back then, it had one ambulance running out of the Champlain Fire Station with about 20 members. Today, Champlain-Mooers EMS’ operating budget is about $1.7 million, it operates four advanced life support ambulances and a Squad Truck out of two ambulance stations, and has 14 paid staff and 35 active volunteers.
Thompson praised current and past board directors for their consistent advocacy for the agency.
“Our EMS board believes in owning the best ambulances with the best equipment, operated by the best providers in order to serve the needs of our communities. For that, we are all grateful,” he said at the podium.
“I am extremely proud of this agency and all we have accomplished together. I think Ken Laplante would agree that we have something really special here in the North Country, and I am honored to be serving as captain of the agency that he built.”
Champlain-Mooers EMS responded to 1,632 calls in 2025 — 775 in Champlain, 511 in Mooers, 296 in Rouses Point, 43 mutual aid responses and 38 mutual aid received with an average response time of 2.29 minutes to all calls. Champlain Rescue handled about 150 calls in 1976.
AWARDS
Operation Supervisor Morgan Arruda awarded Dawn Boulerice the Champlain-Mooers EMS Employee of the Year award. Thompson named Diane Menard the Eric S. Monty Driver of the Year award and awarded EMT Mary LaValley the Basic Life Support Provider of the Year for 2025.
Arruda and Assistant Captain Sue Roberts awarded the Ken LaPlante Advanced Life Support Award to Thomspon. The Benchmark Year award was given to paramedic Tim Miller for 35 years of service.
Miller’s career began at the age of 17 when he joined the Aroma Park Volunteer Fire Department. Shortly after, he enrolled in the Basic EMT class for New York state and was certified at 18-years-old. Then, a year later, he enlisted in the Air Force as a firefighter and EMT.
Miller decided to further his medical education and took the AEMT-Critical Care course in Clinton County in 1991, where he met the love of his life, Lola. The two married in 1992.
In 1997, Miller received the EMS Person of the Year Award for the Mooers Fire Department, and in 2000, he received one of the highest honors in the region, the Mountain Lakes Advanced Life Support Provider of the Year Award.
Both Miller and his wife worked with the Town of Mooers and Champlain EMS to merge the two squads into one unit.
“Over his 35 year career, Tim has trained many new EMT’s and ALS providers, worked with hundreds of different volunteers and paid employees, and has been recognized with numerous save awards in EMS,” Thompson said at the podium.
“Awards aside, Tim Miller is simply driven by a passion to help those in need, and to serve his community with pride.”
Lola Miller, who started her EMS career in 1989 and became an AEMT in 1991, said the biggest change in EMS since she startedis the medical protocol and technology available.
“My first ambulance was the typical hearse with just a small gurney, no equipment, maybe some vitals and blood pressure,” she said. “Now in a rig, we have crew starting multiple IVs, all kinds of equipment in the back. The level of care available now is tenfold what it was when I started.”
She shared some advice for aspiring EMTs and paramedics.
“Be smart enough to know you don’t know everything and never believe you have seen it all,” she said. “Always think of the patient as your mother or father. Treat them with kindness.”
This year’s SAVE Award was dedicated to a team rather than several individuals. Typically, a SAVE Award announcement includes a back story of the call and details of how the crew saved a life, but due to the nature of this call, those details were omitted.
The crew of paramedic-in-charge Jon McNeil, EMT Sam Berry and AEMT Crystal Lavalley responded to a critical call and were joined by attendants Jackson Baker and Jacob McGoldrick and EMT Cody Seymour at the scene. The crew was also assisted by First Responder Fire Chief Michael LeBlanc, paramedic Junior Moore, EMT Edward Martin and firefighters Mo Snide, Gordon Snide and Jerrad Mesec, all from the Rouses Point Fire Department.
“This call serves as an example where collaborative efforts between neighboring agencies once again helped save a patient’s life. We are all very proud of you,” Thompson said.
Assistant Director of the Clinton County Office of Emergency Services Kelly Donaghue praised Champlain-Mooers EMS for their dedicated service to the community.
“It is always good to celebrate individuals who dedicate themselves for the betterment of the community,” he said. “They do not do it for the awards. They do it for service.”