Did you know that the Granby Ambulance Association (GAA) is an independent, non-profit organization that is hired by the towns of Granby, East Granby and East Hartland to provide life-saving services to residents?
“Each town pays us an annual fee,” explained Lorri DiBattisto, president of the GAA board of directors. “The fees paid by the towns comprise a very small percentage of what we need to operate. People seem to think our service is fully funded by their taxes, but in the case of Granby, the town’s annual payment of $20,000 breaks down to $1.78 per resident. We’ve been receiving $20,000 from the town of Granby for the past eight years.”
DiBattisto said that since 2017 when the existing contract with the town of Granby was signed, GAA has seen an 11 percent increase in volume of calls in Granby with no increase in financial support. With a growing population, this increase in calls for service is expected to continue. In 2024, 54 percent of GAA’s 1,954 calls for service were in Granby, 29 percent in East Granby and 6 percent in East Hartland.
East Granby pays an annual fee of $48,000, or $9 per capita, more than double what Granby contributes to maintain three ambulances and a fly car (a fully-equipped vehicle that does not carry stretchers), to pay staff and to purchase equipment, uniforms and protective clothing, supplies and medication and to maintain the Granby and East Granby stations, DiBattisto noted.
GAA has a $1.3 million budget. “We bring in $1.1 million through fundraisers and charges for service,” DiBattisto explained. “Our treasurer Carol Brennan gets the blood out of stone, doing her best to pay our bills every month, including roughly $25,000 per month in salaries alone.”
Chief of Service and volunteer paramedic Kate Coupe oversees six medics and three EMTs, all full time, plus 15 per diem medics and EMTs.
Service is provided 24/7/365 and covers 75 square miles. When all vehicles are busy, dispatch calls nearby towns to request mutual aid, which GAA provides to them in kind, whenever possible.

In addition to emergency services, GAA conducts CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), AED (automatic external defibrillator) and pediatric first aid training for citizens; first-responder training for scouts; disaster drills; LIFE STAR aeromedical helicopter training with its member towns’ volunteer fire departments; participates in Granby Public Schools’ preparedness meetings, and more.
With budget discussions in Granby coming up in March, DiBattisto asks residents to actively support an increase in Granby’s contribution to GAA’s work.
“The board of selectmen and finance board have turned us down the last five years, and our expenses continue to increase,” DiBattisto said. “Town Manager Mike Walsh has been a Godsend because he understands the math. If we don’t break even, we have probably five-to-seven years left before we exhaust our savings.”
DiBattisto also encourages Granby residents to support GAA’s March 1 fundraiser, A Perfect Pairing, celebrating fine wines, craft beer, premium bourbon and local art at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks. All proceeds will go toward the purchase of two new, fully-equipped ambulances. Ticket information can be found at granbyambulance.org