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Cameron Anxious for New EMS

By ALAN OLSON

Staff Writer

CAMERON — It’s been a long, anxious 10 months for a significant portion of Marshall County since the former Cameron Emergency Medical Service closed unexpectedly in September.

Those residents should be able to rest a little easier as the new Marshall County Emergency Medical Service is ready to launch. It will be based in the former Cameron Fitness building, and is set to begin operations July 31.

Since Cameron EMS shut down, those who live in the rural area have experienced longer response times — 45 minutes or longer, in some cases — as the county has relied on crews from Limestone, Moundsville and Bellaire to fill the void.

Marshall County Administrator Betsy Frohnapfel anticipates the average response time within the city to be within 10 minutes of dispatch from the former Cameron Fitness building, just past Family Dollar.

“Depending on where in the coverage area, we’re hoping the average response time will be in the seven-minute time frame,” Frohnapfel said.

Frohnapfel emphasized the EMS service will cover 212 square miles, and response times will be longer at the far reaches of that area, including various mine portals.

Many residents said a return of the old Cameron EMS would make them feel safer — but if that’s not possible, they want to make sure the new responders know the area well enough.

“The only thing I worry about is if they’re going to be able to find the farms and things like that,” Linda Phillips said.

“People out here have a tendency to say, ‘Oh, it’s the old so-and-so place.’ I feel that anyone running these ambulances should have to go out and drive these ridges and get a vague idea of where they’re going.”

Despite that concern, residents said they’re happy to have a paid ambulance service on the way, as neighboring EMS agencies are staffed by volunteers.

“We’ve got a lot of older people who really don’t have any other way to get (to a hospital),” said Shirley Allen. “Over at Limestone, most of the time, they’re just volunteers too, so if they’re all working, they have to wait for an ambulance to come from Moundsville.”

At the Cameron Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, nursing home Administrator Bradley Bowers said the new service comes as a relief, as they have resorted to private buses and trucks to respond to emergencies.

“It fills a huge void for Marshall County and for Cameron,” Bowers said. “That’s just awesome. … If we can’t meet a patient’s needs medically, we can’t take them.

“The fact that we have an ambulance service two doors down will give us the ability to take more patients.”

Several members of Marshall County EMS were on hand in Cameron Friday afternoon, meeting with care providers such as Bowers and scoping out the town. Local paramedics and emergency medical technicians will be employed by the county commission to staff Cameron EMS, with management contracted through Charleston-based HealthTeam Critical Care Transport.

Cameron EMS was shuttered Sept. 1, when the owners of its former home on Railroad Street decided to use the property for office space instead. Beth Ann Howard, former director of Cameron EMS, said an increase in expenses also was a major factor in the closure.

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