Otsego County EMS Reaches Crossroads

Part 1: The County Service

By TED MEBUSTOTSEGO COUNTYIn December of 2021, the Otsego County Board of Representatives, at the recommendation of its Public Safety and Legal Affairs Committee, implemented a 24-hour, county-based advanced life support ambulance service, buying two ambulances and staffing 16 full-time and 10 part-time paramedics. Previously, pre-hospital emergency medical services had been largely carried out by the 17 volunteer-based EMS agencies serving the county, most associated with local fire departments. However, these first responders had reached a breaking point and were the first to sound an alarm.

“After COVID-19, I had a number of squad captains calling me, begging us to do something because they couldn’t handle the load anymore. Essentially, you’ve got the same six, seven people who are pulling all the work. They’re spread thin and they just can’t do it anymore,” said Dan Wilber, chair of Otsego County PSLA, District 10 representative, and 47-year EMS volunteer. “EMS was receiving calls from people who were dying on the phone when they were calling for help because we could not get them emergency medical care.”