ITHACA, N.Y. — The EMS Rapid Response pilot program, designed to bolster Tompkins County’s volunteer-based emergency response infrastructure, will be funded almost entirely by a state grant, following an influx of $560,000 in unexpected funding.
New York State awarded $630,000 to the county, which covers 90% of the total estimated first-year operating costs of the program, through its Local Efficiency Program.
Funds will be distributed in the next few months, according to County Administrator Lisa Holmes. She told The Ithaca Voice a typo in the application materials led staff to believe the county could only apply for up to 10% of the total estimated costs of the pilot program.
“It should have been reversed,” Holmes said. Initially, the county applied for $70,000, which would be 10% of the estimated first-year operating costs.
Rather, the application materials were meant to instruct staff to apply for 90% of the total cost of their program, with the county to be responsible for paying for the remaining 10%.
Holmes said the Deputy County Administrator Bridgette Nugent was the first to alert the state of the typo after contacting state officials to clarify what she believed was a mistake when she saw the award amount.
“We’re thrilled about this funding,” she said. “There’s been widespread support for this program and the need for it to support our volunteer municipal ambulance services.”
Holmes announced the news at the county legislature meeting on Jan. 16.
The EMS Rapid Response program, also referred to as the Rapid Medical Response program, was created by county staff at the Department of Emergency Response (DoER) in 2023 after years of increasing pressure and strain on EMS agencies. The Tompkins County Legislature voted to approve the program the same year.
Nine fully-trained EMTs will operate three new SUVs, which will be outfitted with life-saving medical equipment.The cars will be stationed around the county to respond to emergency calls, particularly in rural areas where it takes the longest for a transport service to arrive.
While county legislators and municipal officials were unified in their support of the program from the start, they disagreed on whether or not the municipalities should contribute financially to it.
Municipal officials, particularly in rural areas in the county, were generally not receptive to contributing financially. Last year, Enfield’s town board filed a resolution in support of the county covering the costs entirely.
“We, the rural towns, are flat broke,” Robert Lynch, an Enfield Town Board member, said at a county legislature meeting in November 2023. “We can’t bankroll this. But you, Tompkins County, can.”
In November 2023, the Tompkins County Legislature voted to include a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in the 2024 Countywide Shared Services Plan to formally give Holmes guidance in negotiating financial arrangements with officials in the nine municipalities.
Holmes has an easier job now that the state is set to contribute much more than initially expected.
“We’re very glad to be able to launch [the program] and to know this early on in the year that we have the state funds to support it,” Holmes said.
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