Emergency responders organizing a combined ambulance service in Chicora and Petrolia say they will formally become the Karns City Regional Ambulance Service on Aug. 1.

Vern Smith, president of the board managing the new group, said about 26 people will comprise the new nonprofit organization, including a mix of part-time workers and volunteers. The move was needed, members of both borough groups say, due to financial strains and fewer personnel.

Smith, a longtime emergency medical services worker for the area, estimated the change will save about $75,000 in the first year, as they’ll lessen costs of things like workers’ compensation and liability insurance. Operating an ambulance these days, Smith said, is an expensive undertaking.

“Medicare and Medicaid are not covering the costs of operating an ambulance,” Smith said.

The two groups started working together in April 2017, according to Michael Turner, Chicora EMS president. That meant operating one ambulance, which flips daily between the two borough’s fire departments. Turner said he believes they’ll start switching weekly in August after payroll is consolidated.

The group’s coverage area, which roughly matches the Karns City School District, will not change.

Turner said in years since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, insurance coverage for ambulance services has dropped dramatically. Those drops pushed private insurance coverages to plummet as well, he said. Such trends depleted the major funding source of local emergency services, he believes.

Personnel problems follow the financial problems. Fewer people become medics and emergency medical technicians each year, Turner said, at least partially because there isn’t much money to be made compared to similar medical jobs in less stressful roles. They increasingly have trouble finding help.

Aaron Cumberland, ambulance coordinator in Petrolia, echoed Turner.

“We were at the point where we were not going to financially make it in either service,” Cumberland said.

An ambulance needs a medic and an EMT to operate. Petrolia had more medics, while Chicora had more EMTs. Pooling their men together makes it easier to staff an ambulance, Cumberland said.

He isn’t worried about the coming transition impacting those they serve.

“There’s not going to be any disruption in coverage,” Cumberland said. “It’s going to be a smooth transition.”

Their first hurdle will be another financial one: as a new organization, they have to operate for a few months before they’re able to collect cash from insurance reimbursements.

To help carry through that time period and into the future, the service is running a subscription drive. About 4,000 letters recently went out to homes in their combined coverage area, Turner said.

Costs in excess of co-pays that are not covered by someone’s insurance are waived for ambulance service subscribers. Nonsubscribers can wind up with a big bill.

“Subscriptions are a huge financial backing for the ambulance,” Cumberland said.

Existing subscriptions at either borough service will be honored for their duration, Cumberland said.

The board behind the new nonprofit includes representatives from local fire departments, borough governments and businesses.

That board is beginning to look for a new home for the new group somewhere in the Karns City area, Smith said, as its more central to the coverage area. The three men could not yet confirm where they’re looking to set up shop.

Money and staffing aside, the combination is an effort to maintain required emergency services in the area, organizers all agreed. They said those services are under threat statewide.

“If this doesn’t fly, then your next ambulance may be coming from Butler or Slippery Rock,” Smith said.