Hubbard Township and city will soon have their own ambulance service.

The Eagle Joint Fire District board voted unanimously Wednesday to buy two ambulances totaling $63,000, rent an ambulance from Mecca Township until the purchased ones arrive, and use grant money to buy needed equipment to answer calls.

The board also voted to hire 12 part-time EMTs to help with a shortage of medics.
Interim fire chief George Brown says that means there will be ambulance service 24/7 in both the city and the township. Right now, there's only coverage from 7am-7pm.

Brown says chief Ron Stanish did a lot of the long-term budget planning to be able to form the service, and cited cooperation from city and township officials at all levels.

"We are working hard to get through this year with no additional taxes, we're going to try to do it within the confines that we have," said interim chief Brown. "We think the people will see that it's a benefit service after that."

The arrangement came as a relief to residents.
Many are older or have older relatives, and worried about response time in an emergency after Lane pulls out.

They say they're also pleased the service won't need a levy on a future ballot, and showed what can be accomplished when everyone works together.

"We were blessed with Lane, but my honest opinion, private ems is not the answer at all," said resident Joe Yaksich. "I'm glad to see everybody finally worked together and got something accomplished."

Two other Valley communities - Campbell and Struthers - have also come up with a solution once Lane ends service June 4.
They've entered into an agreement with MedStar to provide ambulance service there.