DILLSBORO, Ind. — Amy Barlow still remembers the pain and fear she felt two years ago, right after another driver hit her car head-on near her family's farm in Dillsboro, Indiana.
"It was scary," she said. "It seemed to take forever for anybody to get there."
911 records show a Dearborn County dispatcher tried to reach the Dillsboro Ambulance Unit, but they did not respond to the crash.
“A lot of people used to give to the life squad," Amy's husband Dennis Barlow said. "They don't do that anymore. No response."
The Barlows said a Dearborn County deputy and a volunteer firefighter in his own vehicle arrived in about 10 minutes.
Records show that’s when 911 called an ambulance squad from Ohio County. They arrived about 25 minutes after the first 911 call.
Amy Barlow was examined and treated. More than an hour after the crash, a medical helicopter arrived to transport her to a hospital.
“When your wife's in an accident, you wonder if you're ever going to see her again," he said.
On Wednesday, the I-Team revealed that the nonprofit volunteer Dillsboro Emergency Ambulance Unit has increasingly come under fire for not responding to emergencies.
Dearborn County 911 records show the Dillsboro Unit hasn’t responded to most of the emergency calls in Dillsboro during the last two and a half years.
“I know why they're frustrated," Capt. Bev Tackitt said. "But I can't be here 24 hours a day."
Tackitt and Co-Captain Harry Witteride — both volunteers — supervise the EMS operation.
They said the unit can only afford to pay volunteers $10 an hour if they commit to working an entire shift, and many shifts aren't covered.
"I can't give up my paying job for what this pays," Tackitt said.
They said Dillsboro lost half its volunteers since the pandemic and can’t keep up with an increasing workload.
Some volunteers went to other departments that pay more. Others retired.
The Dillsboro Unit’s tax records show revenue from their services was just $9,000 in 2022 – a 90% reduction in just two years.
The county gives them $50,000 a year.
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.
Other EMS units in the county are also struggling.
In recent months, Aurora EMS squads have responded to emergencies in ambulances borrowed from nearby Lawrenceburg and Ohio County. One of Aurora’s ambulances was in the repair shop for months.
911 records show Aurora has been putting more mileage on their ambulances in recent years by responding to hundreds of calls in Dillsboro and other communities that rely on volunteers.
“We don’t mind helping them," Aurora EMS President Andrea Shuter told the Dearborn County Council last week during a public meeting. "They’re struggling.”
Shuter urged the council to provide more funding for local EMS.
Aurora receives a combined $207,000 a year from the town and county, according to Shuter. But Shuter said that only covers about half the Aurora EMS payroll. She said Aurora pays their EMTs $15 an hour.
“Pay is going to have to go up," Shuter said. "They need insurance and they need 401Ks, benefits. We can't supply any of that now."
The council is scheduled to vote on a .2 % increase in local income tax that would provide about $3 million a year for local EMS programs on Monday, according to county officials.
A new state law enables the county to earmark a tax increase for EMS.
Without it, Bright's Fire and EMS chief said his volunteer department could run out of money in a few years.
“We're not asking for free handouts," Chief Kendall Eberhart told the council. "We're just asking for money to do our job."
If the council approves the tax increase, Dearborn County Commissioner Jim Thatcher said he believes the county should hire experts to help create a comprehensive EMS plan for the county and make sure the money is well-spent.
“We have to bring the EMS folks into the 21st century," Thatcher told the I-Team after the meeting. "We've got to start addressing these issues."
The Barlows said it’s long overdue.
“I would hope that they would still have a squad out there in Dillsboro," said Dennis Barlow. "As long as it's manned, that's all that matters."
