Emergency management officials in Buckingham and Albemarle counties said that the dissolution of the Scottsville Volunteer Rescue Squad isn’t expected to affect the mutual aid agreement between the Scottsville and Buckingham Volunteer Rescue Squad. The agreement states that Scottsville could provide aid to Buckingham should Buckingham request it and should Scottsville have the manpower to accept the request.

Albemarle County announced in a news release that the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors decided that Albemarle County Fire Rescue (ACFR) would be responsible for emergency medical service delivery for Southern Albemarle.

Cody Davis, Buckingham E-911 coordinator and emergency services manager, said Albemarle County is committed to keeping any existing agreement in place between Scottsville and Buckingham.

This was also confirmed by ACFR Chief Dan Eggleston.

Eggleston said there would be two staff firefighter/ paramedics at the Scottsville station at all times with different people alternating between three different shifts. Two is the minimum number of personnel who would be at the Scottsville station with the potential for volunteers to serve as additional personnel, Eggleston said.

Eggleston said ACFR personnel have been providing services at the Scottsville station prior to the decision to dissolve the volunteer rescue squad.

Six members of a paramedic class are set to graduate in October. Following graduation, those six individuals would be able to provide service for all Albemarle County, including the Scottsville station.

Eggleston said Albemarle County has approximately 110 career staff members who work at different times, and approximately 500 volunteers.

Davis said the decline in volunteers has had a sizable impact on Buckingham and surrounding counties. He said the shift in Albemarle isn’t expected to worsen those conditions.

“It potentially could make it even better if Albemarle County decides to put additional resources into the Scottsville area than what they have now,” Davis said.

While rescue squads continue to experience numerous challenges related to the volunteer decline and response, Davis said the decision by Albemarle isn’t expected to create additional strain for Buckingham County.

“I don’t think any red flags are going to be thrown up because of it,” Davis said. “If anything maybe even their assistance to us becomes more readily available than what it had been.”

Concerns about the mutual aid agreement and about the level of care in the northern end of Buckingham County have been sources of concern. While the Scottsville Volunteer Rescue Squad had been closer for some residents than the Buckingham squad, Scottsville could not agree to respond until Buckingham made the request, and Scottsville had the resources and manpower to accept.

Katie Emanuel, a Buckingham resident whose mother died in 2018, has spoken to Buckingham supervisors before about the agreement, which she said had caused the Dillwyn rescue squad to travel approximately a half-hour to respond to her mother’s emergency when Scottsville was approximately five minutes away.