Squad training

by Doug Thompson

The future of Floyd County’s volunteer rescue squad could be threatened if proposed guidelines for recertification go into effect, the squad captain told county supervisors Tuesday.

Rescue Captain Steve Love said proposed national regulations on certification would require 500 hours of course study at a cost of $3,500 for each member of the squad – a cost and time requirement that could drive the squad out of business.

County administrator Dan Campbell echoed Love’s concern, saying volunteer squads could become a “thing of the past” because of increasing regulations on training and certification.

Like other volunteer squads in Virginia, Floyd County is always scrambling for volunteers to staff its squads.  The county has already supplemented the volunteer effort with paid staff on weekdays because of a shortage of volunteers.

The new regulations are under consideration by the national commission that provides guidelines for rescue squads.  The county currently pays the educational costs for trainees who become members of the squad and for members who undergo recertification as long as they continue to serve as volunteers but Love said the new regulations would substantially increase both the time commitment for volunteers and the cost to the squad and county.

Supervisor chairman David Ingram told Love the board “is very concerned” about the proposed changes and asked him to “keep us in the loop” on the considerations.

In another volunteer rescue squad and fire department matter, supervisors expressed concern over the use of Floyd X-Press Mart for fuel purchases instead of the county-owned and operated pumps at the school bus garage and landfill transfer station.

“If we are paying more for fuel at the X-Press Mart then we have a problem,” said Courthouse Supervisor Jerry Boothe.

X-Press Mart on North Main Street is owned by Roger Hollandsworth, a member of the Rescue Squad. Rescue Squad ambulances regularly top off their fuel tanks at the market after runs. The squad is exempt from gas taxes but only on purchases of five gallons or more. Any top off less than five gallons requires payment of taxes.

Boothe and Little River Supervisor Virgel Allen said they would like to see a breakdown of how much it costs per gallon for fuel at X-Press Mart versus what the county is paying for buying fuel in bulk for the tanks at the transfer station and school bus garage.

The questions came up during the morning review of disbursements by supervisors. Later in the day, Emergency Services director Ford Wirt said the fire trucks are now using the pumps at the transfer station, adding that the nozzles on the pump had to be changed to allow pumping into the trucks.

Fire trucks and rescue squad vehicles use diesel fuel. A member of the rescue squad told The Floyd Press after the meeting that the county facilities are not always open late and at night or in the after midnight hours when they need to fuel ambulances and that Hollandsworth is “always willing” to get out of bed and come to his market to unlock the pumps to allow them to get fuel.