Walkersville Rescue urges town to back county request for two full‑time ambulance staff after call spike

Walkersville Rescue leaders told the Burgess and Commissioners on Sept. 10 that a recent change in the county’s computer-aided dispatch system and local growth have left the town’s ambulance service overextended and that the group wants the town’s support in requesting two additional full‑time ambulance staff.

Chief Chopper Kramer said the county’s new CAD logic now factors intersection delays, signal timing and routing in ways that shifted calls away from a newly sited county unit and toward Walkersville Rescue’s coverage area. “It has doubled our call volume,” Kramer said, adding that the rescue ran 186 calls in August and recorded “14 calls” missed that month on the department’s late‑report summary and “probably close to 300 fails” last year by his accounting. He said bariatric transports and regional mutual‑aid trips further stretch the single staffed ambulance.

The request to the county is for two additional personnel to create a second 24/7 ambulance crew, Kramer said, noting the town has the housing and ambulances but lacks personnel. He told commissioners he will prepare a letter to County Rescue Chief Coe and the county trustees and asked the town to endorse that request; Kramer said the county submission is due Nov. 1.

Commissioners pressed for operational details: whether the CAD system measures travel time to the patient or to the receiving hospital, how mutual aid and tiered response work, and whether a resident might be told no ambulance was available. Rescue leaders clarified that fire company vehicles operate as first responders with EMS equipment but generally do not transport patients; if the ambulance is unavailable, a first responder stabilizes patients until an ambulance from Woodsboro or another regional unit arrives.

The Burgess and several commissioners encouraged coordinating the request with county budget hearings rather than relying on a letter alone; staff said they would notify the county and consider presenting during budget meetings. No formal town appropriation or staffing commitment was made at the meeting; rescue leaders said their ask is for political and administrative support to secure county staffing.

What’s next: Walkersville Rescue will draft the county letter and expects the county request deadline is Nov. 1; commissioners and staff said they would consider circulating or signing a town letter and raising the item in county budget discussions.

Provenance: Topic introduced SEG 114; discussion and Q&A continue through SEG 247.