PRUE, Oklahoma -
It will soon take much longer for sick people in part of Osage County to get to a hospital. That's because the Green Country Volunteer Fire Department doesn't have enough money to keep its ambulance service going past January 31, 2012.
The department covers more than a thousand homes between Sand Springs and Prue and as EMT David Carter never knows what the day will bring.
"A typical shift can range anything at all from no calls at all up to, you can have calls back to back to back," said David Carter, EMT.
The firefighters may all be volunteers, but the Green Country Fire Department pays six EMT's to work full-time ambulance shifts.
"We get them the quickest care that we can possibly get to them," said David Carter.
Right now, response times are between 15 and 20 minutes. But when this ambulance service shuts down at the end of the month, it could take twice as long for EMT's from Tulsa or Cleveland to reach area homes.
"We have been in trouble before and we have pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps. And this time, the bootstrap's broke," said William Childress with Green Country Volunteer Fire.
Board president William Childress says subscriptions are down and his crews have an obligation to respond to all emergencies, even if that means helping non-subscribers.
"If a phone rings right now, and they don't have insurance or anything, we're not going to not go. We are going to go try to save their belongings and family members," said William Childress.
Those homeowners still get a bill for the department's services. The problem is, more and more people can't afford to pay that bill.
"You may get a run for $600, $700 and you may get $300," said William Childress.
As a result, the fire department can no longer afford the medical expenses.
Carter knows his days on the job are numbered, but says he'll spend those days focused on helping his neighbors.
"Seeing that I've taken a patient somewhere and I'll see them somewhere later on and they're doing much better," said David Carter.
Right now, the best thing members of the public can do to help is subscribe to the Green Country Volunteer Fire Department and encourage their neighbors to sign up.
The department says if the financial situation improves enough, it would be able to bring back the ambulance service.
Green County Fire Department is located in Osage County.
Green County Fire's ambulance.
EMT David Carter loading a stretcher into the ambulance.
