04/21/2026
Morning reading. Morning rescue history. From the Greensboro Record on January 16, 1984, story about the "volunteer shortage" at the Chatham County Rescue Squad. Shown are squad volunteers Roy Gilliland (left) and Ray Klund. Here's a transcription of the article:
Rescuers declare emergency
Chatham service slowed by volunteer shortage
By ROD HACKNEY
Staff Writer
SILER CITY — A critical shortage of volunteers is hampering daytime medical rescue service in Chatham County.
In Goldston, a small community in the southern tip of the county about 45 miles south of Greensboro, the problem has grown so acute that Emergency Services Coordinator Mark Scott has had to help man an ambulance.
The Goldston Rescue Squad, one of three in the rural county, stopped answering daytime calls on Jan. 6 because of lack of manpower, according to Scott, who directs rescue services for Chatham’s 30,000 residents.
Since then, Scott and a volunteer firefighter have been manning the Goldston ambulance until more daytime help can be found.
Similar problems are faced in Chatham’s largest city, Siler City, where the Chatham Rescue Squad must rely on high school students and working adult volunteers to answer calls between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Response time is slowed, Scott said, when Emergency Medical Technicians and ambulance drivers must get permission to leave school or their jobs to answer calls.
There are plenty of people available at night and on weekends, Scott recently told the county Board of Commissioners, but most rescue squad volunteers hold down daytime jobs.
Although the problem has existed for some time, it has become acute in the past year, Scott said. Goldston has been hit hardest by the recent closings of several large plants such as Pomona Pipe Products and Pullman Woodex Corp.
Workers who were formerly nearby to answer emergency calls have had to go out of the area to find jobs, Scott explained.
To solve the problem, Scott has proposed that the county provide funds to pay EMTs and drivers for daytime service. The East Chatham Rescue Squad in Pittsboro pays an EMT $125 per week to be on call during the day, Scott said. Drivers should also be compensated, Scott said, and suggested $100 per week.
Scott noted that most surrounding counties have full-time, paid emergency service operations or pay their volunteers. He also pointed out that improving daytime emergency coverage would allow squad members to upgrade their personnel through increased training. This would in turn allow the use of certain drugs, intravenous fluids and other life-saving measures not available in Chatham ambulances.
But providing a paid EMT and driver for all three squads would cost the county $675 per week, and there is currently no money in the county budget for such an expense.
Scott also asked the commissioners for funds to develop a specially equipped hazardous waste management team for the county.
“As far as fire protection goes, we’re in good shape,” Scott told the county board. “But when it comes to hazardous materials we have no means of dealing with it other than squirting water on it.”
Scott said a study by the Triangle J Council of Governments showed that more than 2,200 large trucks travel through Chatham County each day “carrying everything from baby diapers to radioactive wastes.”
Plus, many county industries use hazardous materials ranging from chlorine to methanol to sulfuric acid.
“Every water and sewage treatment plant in the county uses chlorine,” Scott said. “But if a chlorine tank should burst, we have no way to patch it. We don’t even have the special suits needed to approach the tank. People for miles would have to be evacuated.”
Scott has proposed that funds be provided to send selected volunteer firefighters from around the county to special schools where they can be trained to handle hazardous materials.
He also asked the commissioners for money to purchase and equip a special truck for hazardous waste emergencies.
Scott said the cost of the truck would depend on the type the county felt it needed and whether a suitable used model could be found. But, he said, much of the special equipment needed for the truck could be handmade by the volunteer firefighters, saving the county thousands of dollars.
He estimated the cost of equipping the truck at “$5,000 to $6,000.”
Commissioners expressed support for Scott’s proposals, but opted to wait until a new county manager is hired to develop a solution. The county’s previous manager resigned in December and County Attorney Bob Gunn has been serving as interim manager since.
