As Voorheesville Area Ambulance Service looks to close its doors on Oct. 15, the town is requesting that Albany County Sheriff’s EMS division expand its services to a 24/7 operation to cover VAAS’s former district.

The EMS squad had made the decision because the squad lacked the volunteers it needs to service the community.

The paid staff of E5 will supplement ambulance volunteers in Voorheesville as needed, particularly during daytime hours, when fewer volunteers are available.

Albany County's emergency medical services coordinator, Brian Wood, said the third town that needed to bear the cost, Westerlo, of the program didn't agree to spend the money.

The concerns of long-time ambulance-squad volunteers must be heeded as the county seeks to fill the gaps — with a paid EMT — left by decreasing numbers of volunteers.

After months of increasingly bitter disputes, the village and Voorheesville Area Ambulance Service, on the cusp of a new contract, are working together to resolve differences.

The Voorheesville Fire Department declined to take over ambulance duties — a relief for contentions between the village board and the ambulance squad, which says Mayor Conway's statement about the situation in the village newsletter was incorrect.

Voorheesville's mayor and village board plans to replace the Voorheesville Area Ambulance Service with re-trained volunteer firefighters. The retaliatory move would undermine the service without ensuring a viable replacement.