DILLSBORO, Ind. — The nonprofit volunteer Dillsboro Emergency Ambulance Unit responded to 12% of residents' 911 calls in 2023 — by far the lowest response rate of the last five years, according to Dearborn County 911 records.
"With this disease I've got, you need help right now," Dillsboro resident Lisa Calhoun said. "When you can't breathe it's scary."
Calhoun, 57, said she has severe asthma attacks that leave her struggling to breathe.
Even though she lives 1/2 mile from the Dillsboro ambulance building, a squad responded to only one of her seven 911 calls since July 2023, according to 911 records.
"It would be nice if they could be here," Calhoun said. "I hope it can get better."
The WCPO 9 I-Team first reported on the Dillsboro EMS squad's problems in August 2023. During the first six months of 2023, the unit responded to about one out of five emergency calls in the town of 1,327 residents, according to 911 records.
911 records show the squad didn't have a crew available for about 120 emergency runs, including reports of traumatic injuries and strokes.
Prior to the pandemic in 2020, the Dillsboro squad had a crew available for most 911 calls. But since the pandemic, the unit has lost half its members, including EMTs, according to Dillsboro co-captains Bev Tackitt and Harry Witteride.
They said Dillsboro paid their EMTs $10 an hour for working a shift.
Some volunteers went to other departments that pay more. Others retired.
"It's just hard to see that the community is upset and we're trying our hardest with what we have," Witteride told the I-Team last July.
The Dillsboro Unit’s most recent IRS tax records show revenue from their services was just $9,000 in 2022 — a 90% reduction in just two years.
Dearborn County gave the squad $50,000 a year for ambulance services, according to county records.
But Witteride said the unit needs more money to pay for full-time squads to provide consistent and dependable services.
“For somebody who's going to save somebody's life, you would think there would be more money available to keep organizations like this up and going," he said.
But instead of receiving more money, the Dillsboro squad is losing county funding.
"The commissioners had to send a letter to Dillsboro negating their contract," Commissioner Allen Goodman said.
Goodman said the Dillsboro unit can appeal that decision.
"Why should they get paid for something they're not doing," Dillsboro resident Deborah Howery said.
Howery, 72, lives about 1/2 mile from the Dillsboro squad.
According to 911 records, she and her husband called 911 five times last October, but Dillsboro didn't have a crew available for any of those calls.
"It's crazy," Howery said.
Tackitt and Witteride didn't respond to the I-Team's recent requests for comment on the loss of county funding or the squad's further drop in emergency runs.
The challenges at rural EMS units aren't unique to Dillsboro.
Other volunteer departments in Dearborn County and across the country have lost volunteers — including EMTS — and have lacked the money to buy supplies and equipment, according to local, state and federal EMS officials interviewed by the I-Team.
Last August, the Dearborn County Council agreed to spend a combined $591,855 on two new ambulances, one for Bright Fire and EMS, and the other one for Aurora EMS.
That money will come from a local income tax that went into effect in January.
The .2% tax — approved by a 4-3 vote of the Council — is expected to raise about $3 million that's earmarked for EMS services in the county.
"Obviously, we'll get a lot better coverage than we have now," Goodman said.
Goodman said the county has hired a consultant to help create a countywide EMS plan. In March commissioners will vote on how much funding each EMS department receives from the new tax.
Local EMS units will be required to account for the funding.
"We want better coverage, but we also want the taxpayer to get what they're paying for," Goodman said.
Goodman said the EMS units in Moores Hill and Aurora have picked up much of the slack in Dillsboro.
911 records show in recent years Aurora has responded to hundreds of calls in Dillsboro.
But Goodman admitted that when they respond to calls in Dillsboro, other squads are sometimes forced to leave their communities to cover for them.
He said EMS units are expected to use the new funding to hire more crews and increase their pay.
EMS responders told the I-Team that some departments pay their EMTs just $15 an hour.
Goodman said in 2025 some of the tax money may be used to hire paramedics who will drive "chaser cars" to the most serious calls and provide higher-level medical care in the field.
Unlike EMTs, paramedics can give patients heart and pain medicine, along with other potentially life-saving drugs and procedures.
Despite the problems with the Dillsboro squad, there's still support for finding a way to keep it operating.
“I would hope that they would still have a squad out there in Dillsboro," said Dennis Barlow.
Barlow and his wife Amy own a farm just outside Dillsboro.
"As long as it's manned, that's all that matters," Barlow said.
Last year, Dearborn County Sheriff Shane McHenry said a new EMS plan could also include merging smaller departments.
"Ultimately, if you're in this to save lives — and you're serious about it — you're going to do whatever is best for the community to do that," McHenry said.
Another unresolved issue is what happens to the Dillsboro squad's facilities, equipment and funds if they're not being used.
According to the nonprofit's latest IRS tax filing, the squad has $844,948 in investments.
Goodman said it's unclear if any of that money could be available for other departments that provide EMS services in the community.
"It's something that we will probably try to investigate," he said.
Although many residents have told the I-Team they're disappointed that the Dillsboro squad is responding to far fewer calls, they said out-of-town ambulance squads and 911 operators provided the best care possible under increasingly challenging conditions.
"They get me calmed down," Calhoun said.
Goodman said local departments throughout the county have covered for each other to provide more responsive emergency care.
"The good thing is we have a lot of caring people in Dearborn County and all of them have agreed to pull together," Goodman said.
