Spotsy shouldn't pass on emergency-services grant

Date published: 6/7/2005

I am a Spotsylvania County resident and member of a community organization committed to improving our fire and emergency medical services services.

It was very disappointing to read about the May 25 Board of Supervisors decision not to apply for a million-dollar federal grant to add staffing for our fire/EMS stations ["Fire-rescue grant goes up in flames," May 26].

Four things are clear to me:

1. The residents of our county need and deserve better fire and EMS staffing and emergency response times immediately. Many people don't know that several of our fire/EMS stations are significantly undermanned and unable to provide consistent around-the-clock staffing.

2. Our county is extremely fortunate to have a large number of very dedicated and talented fire/EMS volunteers, and county dollars should be spent to further improve the retention, training, and recruitment of volunteers.

3. The real issue is not "volunteer versus career" staffing, but rather volunteer and career staff. Our combined volunteer and career firefighters and emergency medical technicians team provide truly outstanding services to our community.

However, there is no realistic way that enough appropriately trained volunteers can be added quickly enough to meet all of the growing needs of Spotsylvania County.

4. The Board of Supervisors is to be complimented for recently approving the EMS fee recovery ordinance, which will provide significant additional dollars for both volunteer and career fire/EMS staffing.

The board should now immediately apply for this federal grant to take another important step to rapidly improve public safety in Spotsylvania County.

Fred M. Messing

Spotsylvania

Fred M. Messing is a member of Spotsylvania County Coalition for Improved 24/7 Services.

Follow us on

Read more stories about Spotsylvania
Date published: 6/7/2005