Tri-boro First Aid Squad volunteers can be seen assisting patients all around Kinnelon, Butler and Bloomingdale on a daily basis. But lately, they've been showing their faces at borough council meetings frequently as well.

The volunteer-only squad that covers the three boroughs has been attempting to garner support in asking Gov. Chris Christie to veto a bill (A2095/S818) that would have imposed unfunded state mandates and training requirements on volunteer squads statewide. As of Jan. 9, Christie conditionally vetoed the bill for "additional consideration, information and analysis on this important issue," according to a letter sent out by his office.

While the bill is not law for now, not all Emergency Medical Services (EMS) officials feel completely at ease yet. According to Tri-boro First Aid Squad President Leslie Graf, part of the bill would have required the volunteers to be licensed, which would have cost the squad a fair amount of money initially to license its currently certified technicians and also annually for the volunteers to maintain their licenses. Graf said the squads would also have had to pay annual fees for their ambulances and would have to install GPS units in each ambulance that would allow a centralized dispatcher to see where the ambulance is and dispatch the squad to any nearby emergencies, whether the calls are in the town the EMS squad covers or not.

"We take care of our three towns, but under this new bill, we would be subject to go wherever they tell us to go," Graf said.

Graf said this and other mandates would have made it impossible for Tri-boro First Aid Squad, and many other volunteer squads, to survive financially.

"Millions of New Jersey residents would have been at risk of losing their volunteer EMS services. We provide top-quality emergency medical care for no charge (to the boroughs)," Graf said. "(The state would be) putting so many mandates in it that the volunteer squads wouldn't be able to stay in business."

So, the squad began a campaign to urge tri-boro officials to write letters to the governor's office asking him to veto the bill. Graf said all council members and mayors in Kinnelon, Butler and Bloomingdale supported the squad and complied.

Read a Letter to the Editor about the bill by Graf here.

The Bloomingdale Council approved a resolution opposing the bill at its Dec. 27 meeting.

"It's hard enough to get the quality we do," Mayor Jon Dunleavy said, complimenting Tri-Boro First Aid Squad and expressing that the borough would be supporting the unit.

The Butler Council passed a similar resolution and the Kinnelon Council was going to vote on a resolution at its Jan. 19 meeting, but by then, the governor's conditional veto had already taken effect. Still, Mayor Bob Collins said he had written Christie a letter opposing the bill.

"I think that legislation was flawed and would put requirements on our volunteer squad to act like a paid company," he said. "Vetoing it was a good move."

In the letter the governor's office sent to the squads who had expressed interest in the bill, he explained his reasoning for vetoing the bill and said he recognized "the vital role of our volunteers who have provided critical EMS services to our communities for well over 100 years."

"This bill also raised many regulatory and budgetary concerns that need to be addressed more fully, which is why I have recommended that the Commissioner of the Department of Health and Senior Services review the proposed changes and present her findings on how we can always be on the lookout for ways to improve our already top-notch EMS services. With these recommendations, I am hopeful that the State of New Jersey can continue to provide an effective and efficient EMS system to deliver high-quality care to our residents in their time of need," Christie wrote in the letter.

Graf said she, and all the volunteers of Tri-Boro First Aid Squad, was grateful that the bill was vetoed and thankful for the support of local officials. She also said that while the issue may have been put to bed for now, the squad will be looking to see what changes are proposed to the bill and if it is reintroduced in the future.

"We can't let our guard down and we have to be vigilant and be aware of what's going on and be in communication with what's going on with the Senate and Assembly and governor," she said. "There will more than likely be changes, but we're hoping there will be changes that will benefit the squads and not put us out of business."