HEPBURN TOWNSHIP, Pa. — The Hepburn Township Volunteer Fire Company’s paid ambulance service in Lycoming County is permanently closing after township supervisors voted to dissolve it, stating a shortage of EMTs as the reason.
“I mean, it’s kind of upsetting,” EMS Captain Stephanie Eisenhart told WNEP. “Unfortunately, the volunteer world is kind of a dying breed, so with the service going away, I mean the paid service going away, it kind of limits like what we can do basically.”
One key limitation is that Hepburn EMS will no longer be able to transport patients to hospitals. Instead, they’ll assist alongside fire crews and depend on Mobile Intensive Care Units (MICUs) for patient transport.
Without a paid EMS service, ensuring enough EMTs are available to respond to calls becomes a significantly greater challenge for Hepburn Township.
“Now that the paid service is dissolved, we’re relying strictly on volunteers, and as I said, volunteers are a dying breed,” Eisenhart said. “I wish we had more people to run; we need more EMTs to run at this department because we only have a handful of us right now, and it’s tough.”
The closure begins in June.
