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Budget adds EMS coordinator to implement SWAT recommendations; volunteer chiefs voice concern over county control
Summary
County included an EMS coordinator position to analyze countywide EMS and volunteer fire department operations per a prior SWAT analysis; some volunteer chiefs prefer an independent consultant for the initial study and fear county centralization.
Wicomico County administration included a chief EMS coordinator position in the proposed FY26 budget to implement recommendations from a previously completed SWAT analysis of volunteer fire and EMS services.
County staff described the post as an analyst who will work under the county's emergency management structure and meet with fire chiefs across the county to evaluate pathways recommended by the SWAT report. "This person is gonna come in under Lorenzo, and they are going to kinda do an analysis of everything, looking at the county, looking at, the different fire departments, talking to each 1 of the fire chiefs," a county staff member said.
Several volunteer fire chiefs and council members said chiefs would be more comfortable if the initial planning work were done by an independent consultant rather than a county employee. Concerns focused on the appearance of county control over independent volunteer companies and on long-term staffing or structural changes that could follow the initial analysis.
County staff said the SWAT analysis recommended this next step and that the position is intended to gather information, produce options (including add alternates in RFPs), and develop a recommended pathway for implementation. Staff offered to provide the position description to councilors for review.
Council members did not vote on creating the position at the work session; they asked staff to share the job description, to explore consultant options for the initial planning phase, and to present a timeline and cost estimate before any permanent structural change.
