NEVERSINK and SULLIVAN COUNTY – An ambulance could soon be coming to Sullivan County’s existing fly-car network as part of an effort to improve response times and further support local EMS agencies, according to Sullivan County Legislator Brian McPhillips, who spoke at Wednesday night’s Neversink Town Board meeting.

The update comes after the Sullivan County Democrat reported in May on concerns raised by Neversink resident and BOCES Occupational Therapist Nicole Mickleson regarding emergency medical response times in the rural community.

The county’s fly-car system was first introduced two years ago and is now entering its third year. The goal is to strategically place emergency personnel in vehicles to provide faster assistance to local EMS agencies. McPhillips said the county is currently working to convert one of its Basic Life Support (BLS) fly cars into a full ambulance.

The county is also working to obtain a Certificate of Need (CON) for the ambulance. If approved, the vehicle would be able to bill insurance companies for eligible EMS services, which McPhillips said could help offset the additional cost of operating an ambulance.

The ambulance would be dedicated to emergency calls rather than being used for transportation or other purposes when it is not responding to an emergency. Its primary function would be to assist existing BLS and Advanced Life Support (ALS) services throughout the county.

The proposed change follows improvements the county saw after initially implementing the fly-car system. McPhillips said the program helped cut approximately 15 minutes from emergency response times, addressing situations in which residents had previously faced lengthy waits for ambulances.

However, McPhillips explained that the interconnected nature of emergency response throughout the county can create challenges. When local agencies respond to mutual-aid calls in neighboring communities, resources can be pulled away from their normal coverage areas.

“For instance, sometimes Grahamsville could be mutual aid to Woodbourne, or Livingston Manor has been doing a lot of calls in Liberty and Monticello,” McPhillips said.

Those mutual-aid calls can create additional strain when another emergency occurs, as an ambulance or other emergency resource that would normally respond may already be assisting another community.

The county’s goal, McPhillips said, is to ensure residents receive emergency services as quickly as possible. The proposed ambulance would serve as an additional resource within the county’s existing EMS network rather than replacing local emergency agencies or volunteer departments.

The update also follows Mickleson’s presentation before the Neversink Town Board earlier this year, when she raised concerns about rural EMS response times, limited resources and staffing shortages. She shared the experience of her husband, Chris Mickleson, who suffered a serious workplace injury and waited more than 30 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.

Mickleson told the board that roughly an hour passed between the time her husband was injured and when he received care from someone with an Immediate Life Support certification.

While Mickleson’s presentation highlighted the challenges facing rural EMS, the planned ambulance represents one of the county’s efforts to strengthen its emergency response system.

McPhillips acknowledged that expanding the service will come at a cost, noting that the county recently approved a tax increase that partially supports emergency services.

“I was [on the town board for] 10 years in Liberty and we didn’t do any tax increases,” McPhillips said. “It was my first tax increase I ever had to sign off on, knowing that it was to save the lives of the people here, I had no problem doing so.”