HEPBURN TOWNSHIP, Pa. 鈥� The Hepburn Township Volunteer Fire Company鈥檚 paid ambulance service in Lycoming County is permanently closing after township supervisors voted to dissolve it, stating a shortage of EMTs as the reason.
鈥淚 mean, it鈥檚 kind of upsetting,鈥� EMS Captain Stephanie Eisenhart told . 鈥淯nfortunately, the volunteer world is kind of a dying breed, so with the service going away, I mean the paid service going away, it kind of limits like what we can do basically.鈥�
One key limitation is that Hepburn EMS will no longer be able to transport patients to hospitals. Instead, they鈥檒l assist alongside fire crews and depend on Mobile Intensive Care Units (MICUs) for patient transport.
Without a paid EMS service, ensuring enough EMTs are available to respond to calls becomes a significantly greater challenge for Hepburn Township.
鈥淣ow that the paid service is dissolved, we鈥檙e relying strictly on volunteers, and as I said, volunteers are a dying breed,鈥� Eisenhart said. 鈥淚 wish we had more people to run; we need more EMTs to run at this department because we only have a handful of us right now, and it鈥檚 tough.鈥�
The closure begins in June.
