Response Time

Community Rescue Service, which provides ambulance service to Hagerstown and the surrounding area, went to the Mayor and City Council on Tuesday asking for help with their financial woes, but the city's elected officials agreed it is a problem for the county government to deal with. CRS Vice President J. Michael Nye and President Ron Horn asked the Mayor and City Council for $200,000 to offset this year's operating losses. Nye said without the money CRS will have to cut staff, which likely would reduce the level of service.

Board becoming a full-time job To the editor: Recently the Washington County school system, and board members in particular, have been criticized over a bus incident involving a kindergarten student. Some of this criticism has been unwarranted and some has been valid. Investigations into the event and the personnel involved must be thorough, and, by law, must remain confidential. Thus, criticism over the lack of public information as to the personnel involved is unwarranted.

FAIRPLAY -- The Washington County Commissioners decided Tuesday to set deadlines for Fairplay Volunteer Fire Co. to address staffing and service problems or face funding cuts and possible decertification. The company has seven days to accept the county's offer to add a paid county staff member to the company during daytime hours and 90 days to restore its first-responder service, the commissioners said. That decision came after a presentation by Washington County Director of Fire and Emergency Services Kevin L. Lewis, who revealed new details about the company's response rate, staffing levels and certifications during the commissioners meeting.

"I'd like to put in a vote of thanks for all the people, all the workers and nurses aides on the eighth floor at Washington County Hospital. I was just in there for a week and they all treated me wonderfully. And especially to Julie, who helped me get my walker that I needed so bad. Thank you all. " - Hagerstown "To all the people who would like the new hospital built in Downsville who say that the doctors want it built on Robinwood so they don't have to travel far from their offices: Have you ever had a heart attack or a real medical emergency?

"I'd like to put in a vote of thanks for all the people, all the workers, and nurses aides on the eighth floor at Washington County Hospital. I was just in there for a week and they all treated me wonderfully. And especially to Julie, who helped me get my walker that I needed so bad. Thank you all. " - Hagerstown "To all the people who would like the new hospital built in Downsville who say that the doctors want it built on Robinwood so they don't have to travel far from their offices: Have you ever had a heart attack or a real medical emergency?

Editor's note- When calling Mail Call, please try to keep your response time to 30 seconds. The Mail Call line is filling up faster now because callers are leaving very long messages. More callers will be able to call if the the responses are kept to 30 seconds. Thank you. My name is Ray. I'm calling regarding the young lady who assisted me at the Weis store on Dual Highway. I would like to say thank you very much. I thought I was having a sugar attack but it turns out that I was having a seizure.

A Franklin County fire chief is blaming a bridge closure for delaying the fire company's response to a house fire. "That bridge that PennDOT (Pennsylvania Department of Transportation) decided to shut down on Rt. 16 made us take a detour and cost us at least 10 minutes in response. A fire doubles in size every two to four minutes," said Dusty Stoner, fire chief of Mercersburg Montgomery Peters and Warren Fire department. To respond to Thursday's 12:24 a.m. house fire at 11496 Fisher Drive in Montgomery Township, Stoner said MMP&W crews followed the six-mile detour traveling on Pa. 416 south to Welsh Run to Welsh Run Road until returning to Pa. 16. No injuries to the homeowners or firefighters were reported, Stoner said.

ROHRERSVILLE -- A variety of topics, from the effectiveness of a police substation in the Pleasant Valley area to how police use fingerprints in solving crimes, were discussed Wednesday night during a public meeting about crime concerns in southern Washington County. About 45 people at the Rohrersville Ruritan Schoolhouse heard from a panel of speakers that included Washington County Sheriff Douglas W. Mullendore, Washington County Commissioners Kristin B. Aleshire and William J. Wivell, County Administrator Gregory Murray, Lt. David Kloos of the Maryland State Police and Kevin Lewis, director of emergency services for Washington County.

WILLIAMSPORT -- Williamsport Volunteer Fire and EMS Co. responded to 127 calls in March, including 43 fire-only calls and 84 EMS-only calls, according to Scott Bragunier, the company's public information officer. Of those calls, 51 were EMS calls in the Williamsport response area and 29 were fire calls in the area. The remaining calls were mutual-aid calls to assist other companies. The average response time for fire calls in March was 2 minutes and 59 seconds, while the average response time for EMS calls in March was 1 minute and 54 seconds.