Northern Dauphin municipalities authorize joint authority for EMS

A group of municipalities in Northern Dauphin County voted to incorporate a joint authority to oversee emergency services. This comes as communities across the state face funding issues. Six municipalities voted to form the Northern Dauphin Emergency Services Authority, allowing them to create a new structure to oversee EMS. Officials say the change is needed because ambulance associations are struggling to meet rising costs and pay EMTs. Chris Dietz, project coordinator from the Upper Dauphin Council of Governments, calls the vote a success. It's a tough thing to get folks to work together, but EMS is such an important component to our society. And the volunteer days where an ambulance definitely was going to be there when you called aren't here anymore. So we need to really make sure that we're doing, we're being thoughtful and we're planning so that when people do call for an ambulance, there's one to. come and care for their loved one. The authority will impose a fee for residents to maintain emergency services. The board will now work to determine what that will be and will hold another public meeting in the coming months. In Middlesburg, I'm Haley O'Brien. WITF News.