News

W. Va. Commission Gives Blessing for Ambulance Plan

Kathy Plum

10/28/2016

Oct. 28--KINGWOOD -- KAMP Ambulance recently updated Preston County Commissioners on its work in Valley District.

KAMP reached an agreement a year ago with the Reedsville Volunteer Fire Department to place an ambulance and crew at the fire hall, to speed up response to Valley District.

The action came after the board of directors of Valley District Ambulance Service, which formerly served the district, voted to cease operations in April 2014.

The commission gave its blessing to the arrangement. Commissioner Dave Price said they wanted an update to satisfy questions they received from the public.

KAMP President Pam Thomas said Monday that the arrangement, "is kind of a work in progress. There have been a few speed bumps along the way."

Thomas said the state approved what is now known as Station 96 at Reedsville Fire Hall.

"We've had some issues with pagers picking up out there," she said. "If our crews are inside the building, our pagers won't go off."

There have also been some issues with space for the crews in the building, she said. Crews were competing with other activities for space at times, so RVFD is renovating a loft space for the crews, said Thomas.

"I would say within the next month we will be able to have our crews back out there," Thomas said.

KAMP took 556 calls in the area last year, she said. That included 210 in Masontown and 175 in Reedsville.

"The calls are getting taken, it's taking us a little longer to get there because we're not always in that station," Thomas said.

When crews respond from Kingwood, response time is about 10 minutes longer, she said.

Thomas said she is trying to have two to three crews working at all times.

Also at the meeting this week, Cathy Kunkle, of Energy Efficient West Virginia, and Allen Staggers, of FirstEnergy, presented different points of view on the company buying the coal-fired Pleasants Power Station from Allegheny Energy.

The commission did not take a stand in the matter, but thanked both for the update.

"In this situation, I don't necessarily know up from down here and hope the [State Public Service Commission knows] what's in the best interest of all of us," Commission President Craig Jennings said.