Mad River Valley Ambulance: Disregard those letters

February 2, 2024  |  By Lisa Scagliotti 

Mad River Valley Ambulance station, December 2022. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

Mad River Valley Ambulance wants residents in Waterbury and Duxbury to know that a mailing they received this week was an error. 

Postal customers in the 05676 zip code area this week received a mailing from the ambulance service asking local residents to sign up for their annual subscription. 

The batch of letters, however, was intended to reach residents in Moretown. 

The Mad River service does not cover Waterbury as part of its regular service area. 

The mailing accidentally was sent to Waterbury and Duxbury addresses.

The service sent out a message on Thursday to local news media and on social media alerting the community of the mistake due to a mixup with the printing company. Residents in Waterbury and Duxbury were advised to simply disregard the information. Office manager Linda Iannuzzi also noted that if anyone from outside their area sends in a subscription, they will contact those people and return it or reimburse them. “We are sorry for any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused,” the service says in its message.

A new mailing to Moretown residents was scheduled to be sent on Friday, Iannuzzi said. 

Waterbury Ambulance Service Executive Director Maggie Burke said was aware of the mixup and had community members ask her about it when she was at the post office this week. “Mistakes happen,” she said. 

She explained that in the system of mutual aid among first response agencies, Waterbury occasionally will respond to Mad River calls. In 2023, they did so 13 times, Burke said. 

But in the matrix of coverage, it’s more common for other nearby agencies to respond to Waterbury, depending on the location and timing, she explained, noting that a Mad River crew may respond to Duxbury occasionally.

Regardless, the services honor each other’s subscriptions, so local residents are not expected to sign up with both agencies, she said. 

Burke said Waterbury Ambulance sends its subscription registration letters out in the spring.