New contract puts Union Rescue Squad future in jeopardy

WILLARD, NC (WWAY) — On Monday, Pender County Commissioners discussed the ongoing situation with the Union Rescue EMS station in Willard.

In September, Union Rescue Squad received an email from Pender EMS stating that a new contract had been sent to the station.

North Carolina law requires counties to have plans which control how emergency medical services operate.

The new contract would require Union Rescue, an all-volunteer station, to respond to 60 percent of all calls in their district.

Chief Diane Giddeons said this change would lead to a decline in volunteers for the station.

“We would have to respond 60% of the time with total volunteers,” Giddeons said. “We can not sustain volunteers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year here. So with that mandate, that will eventually cause our volunteers to say we can’t continue to do that. So our Board of Directors has opted not to sign that contract as of now. We are still holding out.”

According to the letter from Pender EMS, the contract is non-negotiable, and Union Rescue Squad has until January 22nd to respond and agree to it.

If they don’t agree to sign, Union Rescue will no longer be dispatched to any emergency calls.

Giddeons said she has spoken with Pender County commissioners about helping the station out, but claims they haven’t offered help at this time.

In a statement regarding the situation, Pender EMS Chief Everett Baysden said:

Pender EMS and Fire has bent over backwards over the last twenty years to assist and support Union Rescue Squad’s operations in Pender County. Within the Union district, our agency has staffed at no cost to Union Rescue Squad, a paid Paramedic 24 hours a day and staffed the paid daytime EMT, leaving Union Rescue Squad to only cover nights with a volunteer EMT. Over the last year our agency has been attempting to work with Union Rescue Squad’s leadership to rectify issues that have become an increasing problem.

On September 12, 2024, the Pender EMS and Fire Board of Directors sent Union Rescue Squad a new contract that guaranteed its involvement and continued role in the Pender County EMS system plan. This contract addressed and corrected many issues that both parties had identified through negotiations over the last year. This includes:

• A pay increase to Union Rescue Squad’s annual funding which preserves its
  ability to bill for transports.
• Relocation of Pender EMS and Fire paid staff to a separate location in the
  Union district, from which it would operate a 24-hour paramedic ambulance.
  Union Rescue would remain in its current building and would continue to
  respond to calls in its district with its volunteer staff. This relocation by Pender
  EMS and Fire would allow both agencies to respond together but would give
  Union Rescue Squad back their sole identity, something it has been
  continuously requesting. This would also an additional responding ambulance
  to the system plan, something that doesn’t exist today.
• Union Rescue Squad would only be expected to respond to at least 60% of the
  dispatched calls in its district. Pender EMS and Fire would continue to respond
  to 100% of all dispatched calls with paid staff. This guarantees no lapse of
  coverage to the citizens within this district.
• As a continued participate in the Pender County system plan, Union Rescue
  Squad would still have the ability and opportunity to train with Pender EMS
  and Fire staff and utilize our training facilities.

Union Rescue Squad leadership was given a 30-day period to ask questions about the new contract, so that we could ensure all points were understood.
In response Union Rescue Squad raised questions through legal counsel, to which Pender EMS and Fire responded.

With no new contract still in place, Union Rescue Squad was then sent a 90-day notice of termination of the current contract which would omit it from the Pender County EMS system plan, ceasing operations. As made clear in Pender EMS and Fire’s response to Union Rescue Squad’s legal counsel, Union Rescue Squad may still accept the new contract and sign within this 90-day window as it our wish to keep it a part of the system plan. It is not our intent to shut Union Rescue Squad down, despite the false narrative that has been spread.