Fluvanna supervisors debate EMS staffing options as budget and coverage concerns mount
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Summary
Board members reviewed four EMS coverage options that range from keeping a 12‑hour Kent's Store ambulance to staffing three 24‑hour ambulances; staff estimated roughly $300,000 in recurring payroll uplift for full 24‑hour coverage and requested more call-volume and response-time data before a final decision.
County staff and the EMS supervisor presented four options for emergency medical services coverage and fielded extensive board discussion about staffing, recruitment and costs.
Staff said the current adopted EMS budget is approximately $2.83 million and described the existing structure: Palmyra and Fork Union operate as 24‑hour ambulances (four shifts), and Kent's Store has been funded for 12‑hour coverage but was not continuously staffed for the first half of the fiscal year. The county reported cost recovery of slightly over $1,000,000 in FY25.
The options presented were: - Option 1: Status quo (two 24‑hour ambulances, one 12‑hour ambulance at Kent's Store and a countywide ALS quick response vehicle) — no additional cost in the current fiscal year; requires continued use of overtime and part-time fill-ins. - Option 2: Convert the 12‑hour Kent's Store ambulance to a 24‑hour ambulance while retaining the QRV — staff estimated an uplift of about $300,000 in payroll in out years and an extra nine positions to fill, depending on ALS/BLS mix. - Option 3: Eliminate the 12‑hour ambulance, station a 12‑ or 24‑hour QRV in Kent's Store to provide first response and retain transport trucks elsewhere — presented as roughly cost‑neutral in some scenarios but operationally complex. - Option 4: Eliminate the QRV and staff three 24‑hour ambulances countywide — increases transport availability but reduces the nimbleness of a quick response vehicle.
Board members, fire-rescue representatives and staff discussed recruitment challenges (many candidates commuting from hours away), supervisory continuity, safety concerns about single‑person stations, and the tradeoffs between overtime and hiring more full‑time staff. Supervisors asked for more granular data on call volumes, response times by station, and multi-year cost projections to inform a long-range staffing plan.
No vote was taken. Supervisors asked staff to return with locality-specific call and response-time data, longer-term cost projections and implementation options after a recruitment push, with the possibility of revisiting Options 3 and 4 in January.