York County unveils fire and EMS strategic plan with pilot squads, franchise oversight and training initiatives

County staff briefed the York County Council on Jan. 13 about a 10‑year fire‑services vision and a five‑year EMS plan that together aim to standardize service levels across the county, build workforce capacity and strengthen oversight of ambulance providers.

The fire plan's stated goal is countywide equity of service: Presenter (Speaker 3) said the county wants residents in different districts to receive comparable outcomes even where the operational response may differ. “Equitable does not equal equal,” Speaker 3 said, explaining that standards and benchmarks will be used to guide service design.

Near‑term actions include pilot programs, staffing reclassification and data collection. Staff described a pilot squad program underway with two of three squads, a proposal to reclassify two firefighter positions as firefighter‑paramedics to address rural medical demand, and a plan to hire a full‑time training officer and implement a three‑year training cycle. Officials said they will evaluate the pilot over the next six months and adjust deployment models to match peak‑demand hours.

Oversight and EMS franchise proposal: staff proposed a franchise model for EMS that would create governance and quality‑review bodies, require more consistent reporting from hospital and ambulance providers, and give the county better leverage to solicit additional providers and set deployment requirements. Speaker 3 described current provider agreements as inconsistent and said the franchise ordinance will be presented to the JPS committee later this month for detailed review.

Technology and alternative models: staff indicated upgrades to computer‑aided dispatch (CAD) and other dispatch systems are a priority because response begins in dispatch; they also discussed community‑paramedicine and other models to reduce unnecessary hospital transports. Staff said the county may benefit from having a medical director (possibly shared or contracted) to support clinical oversight as the county increases its authoritative role.

Budget and governance implications: some elements—hiring, technology upgrades and potential shared medical‑director arrangements—may require funding and will feed into the FY27 budget process. Staff said the franchise ordinance and other items will come back to JPS and the full council for further action; they emphasized that proposed county employment models for tax districts would be optional and intended to help districts that are unable to increase revenues quickly via referendum (a referendum can take about 1.5 to 2 years to yield revenue).

Local identity and stakeholder engagement: presenters acknowledged concerns from volunteer departments about maintaining station names and community identity; staff committed to honoring local ties while pursuing countywide standards and said continued engagement with fire chiefs, tax districts and the advisory committee will guide implementation.

Quotations: Speaker 3 said, “When you call 911, it shouldn't matter what the side of the ambulance says,” describing the goal of consistent patient outcomes and stronger county oversight.

Next steps: staff will present the EMS franchise ordinance to the JPS committee for development, bring budget‑related items into the FY27 process beginning in July, continue the squad pilot and return with pilot results and funding recommendations. No formal votes on the ordinance or budget items were taken at the workshop.