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| The Kerrs Creek Volunteer Fire Department hopes to add two new ambulances and a defibrillator for its new EMS operation. (STEPHANIE HARDIMAN/The Rockbridge Report) |
The Kerrs Creek Volunteer Fire Department plans to begin emergency medical services for the area this summer -- if funding issues can be resolved.
The Kerrs Creek Emergency Medical Services operation, newly established as part of the fire department, is intended to shorten emergency response times in the area. But organizers still need to buy two ambulances and a defibrillator – at a combined cost of $159,000 – to provide full local emergency services.
Dennis Goodbar, chief of the Kerrs Creek Volunteer Fire Department, said the EMS operation would serve 59 square miles and roughly 2,400 people. More volunteers would not be needed, he said, because the 36 volunteer firefighters are already certified to provide emergency medical care.
The area is currently served by EMS teams from Lexington, Goshen and Effinger.
Ambulance response times from Lexington to Kerrs Creek average about 20 minutes, Goodbar said. He said a quick response time was especially important when dealing with heart attack victims.
“For every minute [a heart attack patient] goes without treatment, there’s a 10 percent drop in survival rate,” Goodbar said.
He said no single incident spurred the push for an EMS team. The effort is a precautionary measure, he said.
Lexington Life Saving and First Aid Crew Captain Clinton Connor agreed. Connor said it could take 15 to 30 minutes to reach someone in need.
Connor supports another EMS team and said it would be a huge asset to the area. He said he receives a few hundred calls a year from the Kerrs Creek area and that another emergency district would ease the pressure on the Lexington team.
Rusty Ford, the Kerrs Creek representative on the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors, said he hopes the county could help fund the new EMS team if the county ends up relying less on Lexington.
Based on an audit from last year, Rockbridge County paid Lexington $110,959 for the total cost of rescue services provided to the county.
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The fire department hopes that fund-raising and donations will help aid the pay a portion of the cost of new equipment. (ALICIA BUDICH/The Rockbridge Report) |
Last week the supervisors unanimously approved a resolution that included a grant proposal for Kerrs Creek to receive money from the Central Shenandoah EMS Council to buy an ambulance and defibrillator. On Friday the grant was submitted, requesting 80 percent of the total $159,000 cost. Goodbar said he plans to obtain the other 20 percent of the needed money though fund-raising and donations.
Central Shenandoah EMS Council Executive Director Dave Cullen said he expects Kerrs Creek to get the requested money.
“Given the geographic area and need, their odds are pretty good,” he said.
A decision will be made by the first week in July, Cullen said. He will grade the request and then send a recommendation for funding to the Department of Health in Richmond.
The EMS team will also be seeking funding for a second ambulance, about $138,000.
“Hopefully the county is going to come through,” Goodbar said.
But Ford said the county is already in the tough situation of having to lay off workers.
“It’s a good idea - I’m just not sure we can afford it,” he said.
According to the county’s proposed budget, which will not be made final until next month, the county rescue squads asked for about $455,000, but the county administrators recommended a little more than $397,000, a cut of more than 16 percent from last year.
If the county does not fund the Kerrs Creek EMS team, Goodbar said that money will have to be borrowed.
“We may not get what we asked for,” he said. “We just asked to be treated equal to the other districts.”
Produced by
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journalism students.
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Prof. Brian
Richardson
Prof. Indira Somani
Editing supervisor:
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