Emergency service providers in Chenango County may be straining to respond to calls in the coming weeks, as Superior Ambulance Service Inc. is leaving Oct. 25.
According to the captain of Edmeston's emergency squad, Dan Osborn of West Edmeston, the strain may extend to squads in western Otsego County that are being asked to help their neighbors.
Last year, Superior, a commercial ambulance service based in Broome County, removed three of four ambulances stationed in Chenango County. At the time, the firm issued a statement saying it was not making enough money on calls in the county to justify having four ambulances there.
On Friday, Rich Barner, a spokesman for Superior, confirmed that his firm is leaving Chenango County this month, but he declined to say why.
Richard Decker, Chenango County Board of Supervisors chairman, said Friday that he has been told Superior's management believes it is not making enough money providing coverage in the rural county.
``We've tried to interest other commercial services in coming, but we haven't gotten anywhere,'' said Decker.
The board is considering a plan to provide countywide ambulance service with a crew of three advanced life-support technicians operating out of two ``fly cars,'' or ambulances.
``That's what we're working on now,'' Decker said Friday. ``We'd have the fly cars in service from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday.''
At nights and on weekends, the county's volunteer services usually have enough members available to handle emergencies, Decker said.
During the week, however, Chenango's volunteer squads often cannot respond to emergencies because many members are working far from their homes. In recent years, some of Chenango's squads have been downgraded or abandoned, and towns in the county have been relying on coverage from neighboring towns and Superior.
Osborn said his crew is being asked to help Chenango County by covering about half of New Berlin and Columbus, towns just across the Unadilla River in Chenango County.
``We're already having a hard time, without trying to do more,'' Osborn said Friday. ``Our response times have been declining, and it's hard to attract new members. We've been going directly to people and asking them to join, and that's helped, but I don't know how long it will last.''
Osborn, a squad member for 27 years, said a combination of stringent state requirements to serve on squads and a lack of initiative from political leaders makes the future of volunteer squads cloudy.
``We really need to have the counties work together,'' he said.
Squad leaders need organizational training and help in recruiting members, he said, and more classes for first-time volunteers and for volunteers who are recertifying need to be available locally.
``It costs money, but I think we need to have classes taught, even when they're only for five or six people at a time. We need those five or six people.''
Increasingly, strict state requirements also hinder recruitment, Osborn said.
``It means you have to spend hours going to class, on top of the hours you're volunteering,'' he said.
Decker and Otsego County Board Chairman Donald Lindberg agreed with Osborn's assessment of state requirements.
``It used to be that the squads would put you on a stretcher, into the ambulance and take you to the hospital, and that's what I think most people still expect them to do,'' Decker said.
Lindberg said, ``I know, the more they can do for you, the better. But when you need help, you want someone to get there as fast as possible and take you to the hospital.''
However, Lyle Jones Jr., Otsego County Emergency Services coordinator, said many county residents expect much more.
``We've had an influx of people from other areas where they expect the kind of service you see on TV,'' said Jones. ``As a matter of fact, a lot of people here now don't even realize that when they call 911, they're calling for volunteers.''
Lindberg said he would not be opposed to joining forces with surrounding counties, but only if the other counties give as much as they take.
``I think it would make sense for the counties around here to work together more on emergency services, if everyone's helping. We could share communications towers, we could work out other arrangements, and it might work to everyone's benefit,'' he said.
Lindberg and Jones noted that volunteer squads, the backbone of emergency services in upstate New York for generations, are hard to staff as jobs dry up in local villages.
``One problem is how far away people have to travel to work,'' Lindberg said. ``Our villages used to have feed mills, restaurants, hardware stores and some bigger businesses, and people worked there. If there was an emergency, your neighbors were there.''
``It's a different age,'' Jones said. ``Things have changed, and we have to work with what we have.'' Jones said he isn't eager to jump into inter-county agreements, and he noted that recent Otsego County courses have been well-attended.
``Right now," he said, "I think we'd better to work to take care of ourselves.''
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