At their meeting on March 6, the Wawarsing town board voted unanimously to approve a resolution in support of the county legislature’s proposal to use a portion of its budget surplus to “fund, facilitate, perpetuate and support” local emergency medical services. The legislature is set to vote on the proposal on March 18, and if approved it will address the critical issues facing EMS in Ulster County with $5 million of funding each year.

The County Legislature built this resolution off a report from last year prepared by the Center for Public Safety Management, which made clear that increased funding for EMS was crucial to prevent a crisis of staffing, response time, and money.

Fortunately, Ulster County has the money to spare. Last October, County Comptroller March Gallagher announced the county has an unrestricted fund balance, essentially a surplus that’s up for grabs, of over $102 million – $31 million more than it’s allowed to stash away in a fund balance.

However, before that vote can take place the resolution must pass the Law Enforcement and Public Safety Committee, and then the Ways and Means Committee.

A complicating factor may be the confusing mixture of 33 entities listed by Ulster County as Emergency Medical Services. This reflects the rural nature of the county and the gradual increase in EMS over the years in such circumstances. Additionally, some EMS listed, like Pine Bush Ambulance are headquartered in another county but serve an area of Ulster, Walker Valley in their case. Clearly there are a lot of details to come concerning how this will work.

Some believe that the crisis for our EMS services is due to the long-term decline in volunteerism. The same issue affects the fire districts. A system that began when residents in our townships worked near their homes and community centers has stretched to breaking point in a time when people commute and many local jobs have vanished.

Some EMS services are moving to a paid model, particularly for drivers and paramedics. Efforts are underway to boost volunteerism, but the path forward appears likely to involve more paid EMS staff than has been the case in the county.

The board offered their “strong support” to the proposal, urging the legislature to adopt it in order to “ensure the continued availability of high-quality EMS services” for the county. They will send a copy of their resolution to the legislature, County Executive Jen Metzger, and the county Department of Emergency Services.