ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, November 23, 1996 TAG: 9611250011
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM STAFF WRITER
BOTETOURT COUNTY volunteers want the public to stop hassling them.
Botetourt County's rescue squad captains, fed up with complaints and a push to get paid help, issued a statement this week urging the public to leave them alone and let the volunteer system work.
A few weeks ago, Carilion Health System offered to provide free ambulance services during the day, if only as a backup to the volunteers. The squad captains said thanks, but that they could handle the situation.
That was fine with Carilion, but now a secretive group of citizens is circulating a petition around Troutville to drag Carilion back into the fray.
Troutville Mayor Jewell Tyndall said she doesn't know who is circulating the petition. She said she hasn't signed it, but she supports it.
"I don't see why they turned Carilion down," she said. "Maybe it's pride and that they would not have so much control."
The squad captains say that's not it at all.
"We fear that residents would be disappointed and/or angry if private ambulance services responded and charged them hundreds of dollars they are now getting free," the captains said in their statement.
"If we get to the point where we need daytime help, we'll hire our own people and train them for our system," added Troutville Captain Penny Firestone. For now, they have 25 new volunteers for the county's five squads, which should help alleviate their problems.
Squads in the southern end of the county, where most of the industrial and residential growth has taken place, have suffered the most acute growing pains. They've had more calls, but the squads weren't getting any new volunteers. The Troutville squad, for instance, saw its call volume increase by 200 over two years, while its ranks dropped to 16 volunteers. The squad now has 11 new volunteers.
A month and a half ago, Carilion Health System got wind of concerns about the volunteer squads and offered the services of an ambulance kept at Daleville. Carilion offered to be the third party called, after the two volunteer squads.
Betsy Aderholdt, vice president of primary care services for Carilion, said the service would have been free. As in Radford and Giles County, where Carilion ambulances take emergency calls, they would have taken their cue from what the volunteers do.
Still, Firestone was skeptical.
"It would be free, but for how long?" she asked. "And who would supervise it?"
After some discussion, the Botetourt rescue squads declined the offer.
They say it's not a matter of pride in volunteerism being put ahead of quality care. They have their own system and protocols and their own radio system, and they don't want to complicate matters with a private carrier.
Besides, the volunteers can still handle the calls themselves, the captains say, especially with their new-found help.
They took no offense at Carilion's offer, Firestone said. "They were looking to help us, and they thought this would be a good solution."
Aderholdt said Carilion will abide by the wishes of the squads and county officials.
Unsatisfied, a group of citizens in the Troutville area has begun circulating a petition to enlist Carilion's help "to supplement, not replace," the local volunteer rescue squad. A story in the Fincastle Herald didn't name anyone in the group, saying they were reluctant about going on the record about the petition.
County Administrator Jerry Burgess, who is in charge of the county's emergency services, said he's heard about the petition, but doesn't know who is behind it. He's received a letter in support of paid help for the volunteers from Tyndall.
Burgess and the county supervisors have voiced support for keeping the volunteer system.
The system helps keep taxes down and saves the county the millions of dollars it would cost to implement a paid system, the squad captains argue.
"If an attempt to force the volunteers out of Botetourt County were successful," their statement reads, "all of us who live in Botetourt County can look forward to the same things that many people moved [here] to get away from" - higher taxes.
LENGTH: Medium: 79 linesby CNB