ONSLOW COUNTY, NC. -- On Wednesday, Onslow County Board of Commissioners voted to stop contracting with four non-profit volunteer rescue squads in the county. The move is to encourage the volunteer rescue squads to merge with local fire departments, in order to consolidate services and save the taxpayers money.
- Four volunteer rescue squads to merge with local fire departments
- Will take place in Onslow Co.
- It's an effort to consolidate services and save taxpayer money
The Director of Emergency Services, Norman Bryson, says four different volunteer rescue stations in Onslow County have been responding to less than 50 percent, in some cases less than 20 percent of the calls in a month's time frame.
“We know Onslow County has lost 27 percent of its workforce volunteers over the last eight years. So instead of trying to spread that workload to 23 agencies, we're trying to compact that down to 19 agencies,’ said Bryson.
The consolidation, if it happens, would specifically affect Haws Run Rescue in Jacksonville, Richlands Rescue, Nine Mile Rescue and Swansboro Rescue.
"All the fire departments have picked up crash rescue equipment so that they can do vehicle extrications. We got a county wide EMS service that's running 24/7, so it became a duplication of services. Compounded with the low responses we felt it was better to consolidate our volunteer system that we had,” said Bryson.
Chief Matthew Hayslip of the Swansboro station says his team of 25 volunteers was already working to merge prior to the vote.
Bryson estimates the move will save each of the four squads about $50,000 per year, adding up to about $235,000 in annual savings.
He says this should not impact jobs or volunteer opportunities. The termination of the contracts will take effect in early March.