Trending
Over the years we've seen duties that were once handled by volunteer firefighters taken on by paid government crews.
The move really began with the advent of the Chautauqua County fly car system in 2017 to provide quicker response, particularly in remote areas of the county where struggles to staff volunteer fire departments were most acute. Over the ensuing nine years the fly car system has expanded to meet growing needs throughout the county, including the April decision to station a fly car at the Clymer Volunteer Fire Department.
For many Chautauqua County residents the use of fly cars by Chautauqua County EMS has been a literal life saver. But, as we've noted in the past, despite many efforts over the years to entice state residents to join their local volunteer fire department, the old model of EMS service simply doesn't work. A resolution passed recently by the Lakewood Village Board is just the latest reminder of a fact those in the EMS business learned long ago – EMS care is a service the government is going to have to pay for as volunteer fire departments struggle to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The resolution passed in late July by the Lakewood Village Board asks the county to staff the county ambulance stationed in Ashville 24 hours a day rather than the current daytime staffing.
“The need for this ambulance has drastically increased, especially during the nighttime when the apparatus is not currently staffed to respond to 911 calls throughout the region,” the resolution states.
It will be hard for the county to say no to the village's request. It's difficult for volunteer fire departments – especially those with a proud tradition like Lakewood's – to admit publicly they need the county's help to provide services for the residents the volunteers serve. But the numbers don't lie. It's one reason county EMS officials were quick to point out in February that they aren't eyeing a takeover of volunteer fire departments' EMS services as they compiled a state-required countywide EMS plan even as they had to know, in the back of their minds, that over the years the county is going to have to do more to backstop the volunteers.
Lakewood's request is the latest in that particular line of dominos. The county's EMS plan is part of a bigger conversation, including a series of recommendations included in a Report on Rural Ambulance Services prepared by the New York State Rural Ambulances Task Force released earlier this year, that will influence how EMS services are provided in the future. But one thing is clear – we should get used to paying for a service that we used to get for free. And that may include adding to the county EMS budget when County Executive PJ Wendel releases his 2027 budget proposal to meet Lakewood's request to staff the Chautauqua County EMS ambulance stationed in Ashville on a 24/7 basis.