CANDOR (WBNG) -- The Candor Emergency Squad has spent more than half a century helping residents on a volunteer basis, now they are asking residents for help themselves.
Captain Kelly Starkweather says the squad has experienced a severe lack of volunteers during 2020. She says that's due in part to the pandemic making it impossible for their high risk volunteers to work.
Nevertheless, the shortage resulted in the squad having to drop 15% of their calls. Something Starkweather says they found unacceptable. So for the first time in 57 years, they decided they needed to start hiring.
"We needed to go forth and hire more medics and drivers because we were not servicing our community the way we felt we should be," she said.
The squad doesn't get any tax dollars, and they have no contract with the Town of Candor. That means hiring the extra help resulted in a huge financial burden.
Mark Brown, Chairman of the Board says that could result in them being out of business by late summer.
"We're looking at having residents of the Town of Candor wait for response from other districts," he said.
This is something residents like Rita Kellogg says cannot happen, and that means the community must step up and help.
"I had a lung collapse and if it wasn't for that ambulance coming when it did, I don't know if I would be here today," she said. "Those people that are in that ambulance they're saving lives, and that's what we need to remember."
George Thomas is also a Town Resident. He says the Emergency Squad must be saved because with no hospital located within Tioga County, residents can't afford more minutes added to the average response time.
"Even the hospitals themselves are 35 miles east or west and 30 miles to the north so we need to have that ambulance here."
Captain Starkweather says that if help doesn't come soon, those long response times may become a reality.
"We don't like not being able to man our calls and we don't like the fact that it could take an hour and forty minutes for someone to get an ambulance, and I'm not exaggerating," she said.
So Kellogg is encouraging everyone to help in any way you can, whether that means a donation or volunteering to join the squad yourself.
"If you can share 10 dollars with them, or 100 dollars, something, anything. They need the help and they need the support of the community," she said.
The Candor Emergency Squad will hold a public meeting at Candor High School on Thursday, January 14 at 6:30 PM. There, they will educate the public on the problem and the need to establish a contract with the Town of Candor. Brown says that contract could help keep the squad afloat, but they need the support of the community to get it done.
If you'd like to volunteer you can contact the squad at (607) 659-5529.
If you'd like to donate, the Candor Emergency Squad is located at 58 Main Street in Candor, NY.
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January 06, 2021 at 09:07AM
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A call for help: Candor Emergency Squad details dire financial situation, asks public for assistance - WBNG-TV
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