An Oxford fire truck at the opening day parade for the Chenango County Fair. (Photo by Tyler Murphy)

OXFORD - Citing a shortage of volunteers and a growing dependency on outside agencies for help, the Oxford Village EMS Department has made the switch to a paid part-time staff system that it hopes will boost EMS response rates in the village and its contracting municipalities.

Starting this week, the department will utilize paid staff to provide emergency medical services and transport between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., the goal being to boost daytime response rates to 80-90 percent while night time calls continue to be handled by volunteers. It also aims to reduce the need for mutual aid from other EMS agencies to less than 10 percent. Oxford currently relies heavily on EMS coverage from neighboring districts, including paid ones in Norwich and Greene.

It’s a necessary change, explained Oxford Mayor Terry Stark; one that might be sustainable if the department hits its targets.

“We know what the expense is going to be for the hours that we schedule,” said Stark. “The wild card is the number of calls that we respond to and if it’s going to be enough to offset the cost.”

The village plans to pay for the $220,000 initiative through a combination of future EMS billing and a $167,000 reserve account built up since 2017, when it began billing for EMS services. Revenue from billing will be used for personnel while taxpayers foot basic operational expenses like fuel and ambulance maintenance.