Supervisors took a giant step toward expanded EMT services Friday, agreeing to buy three ambulances and a fly car to respond to calls anywhere in Schoharie County.
They plan to use some of the county’s promised $6 million in COVID relief and economic development funds to buy the vehicles and staff two of them—to start—with 12 EMTs.
If that relief doesn’t materialize, they’ll use the fund balance.
The ambulances are priced at about $180,000 each, including radios and other equipment; the fly car, at $50,000.
Operating costs and manpower will be about $100,000 a year. Some of that can be recovered with “soft” billing, Office of Emergency Services Director Mike Hartzel said.
“I’m ecstatic,” Mr. Hartzel said after Friday’s unanimous approval of the proposal, one of three put together by supervisors Radio & Emergency Services Committee.
“This is a giant step forward. We’ll never replace our volunteers. We don’t want to.
“But the county ambulances will be the second to respond now when they can’t answer a call. No more three, four, five, six tones…We’ve all heard them.”
Supervisors’ chair Bill Federice made expanded EMS services one of his goals in 2020.
After COVID put just about everything on hold, he made it his top goal again for 2021.
The Radio-Emergency Services Committee began looking seriously at options in January, Mr. Hartzel said.
Option one was doing nothing; option two was adding two ambulances and 12 fulltime EMTs paid for through a $30 per parcel tax.
Option three was two ambulances and 12 EMTs with costs offset by soft billing, but several supervisors suggested now’s the time to solve the problem with three ambulances.
“I think we need three ambulances to position ourselves for the future,” said Sharon Supervisor Sandy Manko.
“This is going to be an ongoing problem.”
“The fact that people are coming here [relocating upstate because of COVID], we’re going to have to do something at some point,” said Supervisor Earlin Rosa of Seward. “And we want to attract people…We can tout this.”
“We’ll never have another opportunity like this,” added Fulton Supervisor Phil Skowfoe.
For now, just two of the ambulances will be staffed with one placed at the southern end of the county and another at the OES in Howes Cave.
Mr. Hartzel said he expects to have them in place by July 1.
The county ambulances will be the second to answer any call, Jefferson Supervisor Peggy Hait, who chairs the Radio & Emergency Services Committee, said, and not dedicated to certain towns.
“We’re not doing this to eliminate volunteers,” she said. “This is just to assist them because so many times, they’re not able to get off the floor.”
According to 2020 EMS Dispatch results, countywide, a third of the 4,127 calls were “dropped”—no one could respond, with the calls then eventually forwarded to private agencies like AMR.
AMR would now be the third to respond to a call.
Projected startup costs are about $500,000: EMTs are projected to cost about $350,000 with some of that reimbursable.
While details on how the COVID-stimulus money can be used are still sketchy, supervisors have been assured they’ll be extremely flexible.
And if somehow, the money doesn’t come through, Cobleskill Supervisor and Finance Committee chair Leo McAllister said he’s comfortable taking it from the fund balance.
“I think this is something folks truly, truly support,” said Mr. Federice. “I don’t know too many people who would say ‘Why did you do that?’”