The 90-day contract extension between the county and the Vance County Lifesaving and Rescue Squad Inc. officially ends tomorrow – Sept. 30.

According to Rescue Squad Chief Doyle Carpunky, the rescue squad’s offer to continue responding to calls at no cost to the county has been declined, but it is unclear whether the rescue squad will continue to be dispatched.

So what’s going to happen if the rescue squad gets dispatched on Oct. 1? Carpunky said he hasn’t had clarification from the county but told WIZS this morning that “we’re going to respond to the citizens of our community like we’ve always done.”

Requests from the rescue squad board president and the county fire association to meet with county staff and the county’s Public Safety Committee have been declined.

In an email to Rescue Squad Board President Bill Rainey, Vance County Manager C. Renee Perry stated that the rescue squad would be dispatched upon requests from volunteer fire departments or other partnering agencies. “We appreciate the Rescue Squad’s continuing operations in the County and the County’s 911 center has no problem dispatching upon request,” Perry stated in the email.

Perry told WIZS earlier Monday that the county commissioners will consider an updated operations plan at its November meeting and that the rescue squad will be dispatched upon request only, “not automatically since we don’t have a contract in place.”

Carpunky said the county is rewriting the mutual plan with no input from fire departments or from the rescue squad.

In response to an email from Rescue Squad President Bill Rainey requesting that the rescue squad continue to be dispatched to calls at no cost to the county, Perry listed several reasons why the county is not willing to accept that offer. The email, which Carpunky shared with WIZS, reads as follows:

I have received your request for a contract with no funding and automatic dispatch and I have the below concerns and these are reasons why we will not move forward with the request.

• The County provides no funding, so it has lost the significant tool for oversight. Financial contributions has historically given the County leverage to require financial reporting, audits, and performance measures. Without that, the County has less authority to ensure consistent and reliable service.

• Even if no money changes hands, the County would still be a party to the contract. If the Rescue Squad fails to meet service standards or if lawsuits arise from operations, the County could still be drawn into legal disputes without having had the ability to ensure adequate funding for insurance, staffing, or training.

• Automatic dispatch assumes the Rescue Squad always has available personnel and equipment. If they fail to respond or are understaffed, it creates service gaps and delays for citizens in need.

• Other agencies (fire departments, EMS, etc.) may already be dispatched and capable of handling the same types of calls. Sending the Rescue Squad automatically could cause overcrowding on scenes, inefficient use of resources, and confusion in command structure.

• If the Rescue Squad is automatically dispatched under the County’s authority, the County may share responsibility for any failures in response, training deficiencies, or accidents on scene — even though the County isn’t funding or controlling their operations.

• Automatic dispatch implies reliance and the County cannot ensure the Rescue Squad has proper staffing, equipment, insurance, or compliance with state standards.

Staff will move forward with reviewing the current mutual aid agreement as well as ensuring that the Rescue Squad is dispatched upon request from other VFD or other partnering agencies. We appreciate the Rescue Squad’s continuing operations in the County and the County’s 911 center has no problem dispatching upon request.”

Perry said she had advised commissioners on the information contained in the email and said concerns should be shared with Assistant County Manager Jeremy Jones.

According to minutes from a Sept. 18 special called meeting of the Vance Fire Association, “Assistant Chief Rainey stated Vance Rescue was willing to contract directly with each department, and they had a contract which was distributed to all departments present to look over and would be mailed to the departments not present. As of 10/01/2025 Vance Rescue will be a volunteer department.

“It was stated the County would not be sending a contract and 911 will not be automatically dispatching Rescue after 09/30/2025. Concerns were expressed about filling this void by individual departments.”

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