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Sullivan County outlines $500,000 EMS grant plan as residents flag local response gaps
Summary
County public safety staff described deliverables for a $500,000 EMS grant starting July 1, including scholarships for EMT training and monthly stats for EMS agencies; a resident said Gravesville has seen repeated delays in ambulance responses.
Sullivan County public safety officials told the Public Safety Committee they are preparing deliverables for a $500,000 EMS grant that takes effect July 1 and includes free EMT education and workforce expansion, and committee members heard a resident describe repeated response delays in one community.
Alex, a Sullivan County public safety official, said the county was one of 11 in the state awarded the $500,000 EMS grant and that staff are lining up projects so they can "hit the road running" when the grant begins July 1. "A part of that is gonna be free EMS education, EMT education," Alex said, describing scholarships intended to increase the number of certified providers.
Alex said the county and contract partner Senior Care EMS have completed more than 2,000 calls in six months and that the county will attach monthly statistics for each EMS, fire and law enforcement agency to public reports so legislators and the public can see where calls occur and what types of calls the system is handling.
During public comment, a resident said a friend in Gravesville often hears repeated radio traffic where crews do not respond locally and calls are filled by Livingston Manor. "She listens to the scanner, and the number of times the call comes in and tries to bang bang out Gravesville, no response ... and who finally comes through? Livingston Manor," the resident said, describing a pattern of recurring delays in that area. The resident asked whether ambulance corps would be billed if they failed to supply service; committee staff did not provide an explicit policy answer in the recorded discussion.
Committee members and staff said they plan to continue working with county partners to improve EMS coverage and to refine reporting. Alex said he will add monthly stats to reports and that the county is coordinating with contract providers and neighboring counties to share practices; he also said other counties have called Sullivan County to ask about its program and that some are adopting similar measures.
Why it matters: EMS response times and workforce capacity directly affect emergency medical outcomes. The grant and training scholarships are intended to expand the local workforce and improve system reliability.
The meeting concluded with a motion to adjourn that passed by voice vote; the transcript records legislators saying "Aye."
