Riley Shurtleff, Cayuga County emergency services coordinator, gave a year‑end report to the committee highlighting training, grant awards and a rise in water‑related responses.

Shurtleff said the county accepted “the $490,000 no match grant from the Bureau of EMS,” and that Lucas CPR devices funded by that grant have been delivered and assigned to ambulances around the county. He said the office expects to install MDTs and vehicle locators for ambulances in the coming weeks.

Shurtleff outlined response totals to date: the office was dispatched on 141 incidents this year, including about 97 potential or confirmed structure fires and 14 water emergencies. He told members that the county experienced two separate drowning events and a notable boat collision on Cayuga Lake this summer. “One of them has actually been used successfully within the last few weeks, so that’s a very exciting thing,” he said of the new equipment.

Training and volunteer capacity were a focus: Shurtleff reported the county recorded roughly 6,400 hours of training in 2025 through state fire and EMS instructor cadres, hosted the county’s first in‑county fire officer class in 20 years and recorded about 398 student completions across courses. He told the committee some of those completions brought new volunteers into local departments, though recruitment remains gradual.

Shurtleff said the county will present a revised county fire mutual aid plan — required every five years — at the January meeting; he described the current package as more modern and said it incorporates addenda developed with the fire advisory board. He also said rope and search‑and‑rescue work increased in prior years but that 2025 saw comparatively more water‑related incidents.

The coordinator described plans for public outreach and training, including water‑awareness and boat operator courses next summer, in response to the higher number of water emergencies. The mutual aid plan and any related resolutions will return to the committee in January for formal consideration.