BETTSVILLE, Ohio — There's an effort in Seneca County to get an ambulance to you faster in a medical emergency.
But it'll cost homeowners a little more money if voters approve an ambulance-service levy in the Nov. 8 election.
Recently, five Seneca County villages and 11 entities partnered to create the Seneca County Joint Ambulance District.
"We're all looking to help the community," Bellville Mayor Scott Harrison said. "All of the entities are coming together because we realize we have a problem, and we're trying to make the system better for everybody and to make the service for our community. And that's what it's all about, saving lives and helping our community."
The district is asking voters to approve a 2.5-mill levy that would cost an average home owner about $7 a month.
The goal is to have reliable and consistent emergency response coverage for all of the rural areas in the county.
Local leaders came to the conclusion that the pooled resources of a joint district was needed after some 911 call response times got as high as 20 minutes for rural residents.
"Ten years ago we had probably 140 volunteers, we're down to less than 40 now," Harrison said. "So it's very hard to run an organizations as a volunteer group, so we have to do something different."
Now the joint ambulance district needs consistent funding to fulfill a 3-year plan to establish four EMS stations across Seneca County, and staff them primarily with full-time first responders, supplemented with volunteers.
Along with funding the new joint ambulance district, the levy revenue also would ensure all first responders on staff receive advanced life support training.
"So this is a nice mixture of a levy that's the same for everybody, it's volunteers, and it's the Seneca County commissioners all contributing towards making EMS work," Seneca County Commissioner Tony Paradiso said.
The district will host a public meeting about the levy at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Vanguard-Sentinel Tiffin campus.
More on WTOL: