Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 28, 1995 TAG: 9509280059
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Medium
Like opposing nations, they sat at long parallel tables and faced each other across the room at the Bedford County Administration Building.
But by the time leaders of the Bedford Life Saving Crew and Campbell County Rescue Squad finished talking with members of the proposed Goode Rescue Squad on Wednesday night, it seemed as if a detente had been reached, that they'd given peace a chance.
"I didn't come into this meeting to make any hard, fast decisions," County Administrator Bill Rolfe said at the end of the meeting, which was held to discuss the boundaries of the Goode squad's service area. "I just wanted to clear up some concerns and get some things out on the table, and I think we've done that tonight."
At its next meeting, Oct. 9, the county Board of Supervisors likely will take up Goode's boundaries and give the squad the go-ahead to run calls.
At the start of Wednesday night's meeting, Goode squad founder Rob Ballagh presented his hopes for the squad's boundaries: North to Charlemont at the intersection of Virginia 637 and 638; south to Virginia 24 just below Owen's Market on U.S. 460; east to Jefferson Forest High School; and west to Virginia 671 in Bedford.
Ballagh said response time could be cut down considerably with those boundaries.
But that brought heated questions from Bedford Life Saving Crew president Jerry Fielder. "You can be there quicker," he said. "But if you're not equipped to handle what you get to once you get there, what does it matter anyway?''
Bedford calls out two rescue trucks and a crash truck equipped with mechanical extrication equipment to every wreck in which there's doubt about the extent of injuries, Fielder said.
Bedford and Campbell members both wanted to know how Goode, with one ambulance, a smaller staff and hand tools for extrication, could handle large car wrecks on U.S. 221 or U.S. 460.
The answer, Goode members said, is cooperation with other squads.
"I think everyone understands there's going to be many times that calls will be dispatched that will overwhelm our manpower and equipment needs, and that's when we hope to work closely with the Bedford Life Saving Crew and Campbell," responded Mike Smith, a former Campbell County rescue volunteer who is joining Goode
Still, Bedford and Campbell had concerns that Goode, which would answer about 15 calls a month in its proposed coverage area, was biting off more territory than it could chew.
The Goode squad plans to take over about a third of the territory that now is covered by the Bedford squad. It also will take over Bedford's rescue station in Goode.
That has caused some sparks between the two groups: Bedford's fund raising has been hurt by competition from the Goode Rescue Squad organizers over the past year; and some members from Bedford and Campbell have discussed joining Goode, which is a particularly sore spot.
Yet, as the meeting ended, the squads put their differences aside and welcomed Goode into the fold in favor of furthering the squads' common goal: helping the community.
"I've been in this too long and I'm too old to sit at a table and argue about who's going where," Jack Morgan of Campbell told Ballagh.
"We will not be in any way a stumbling block for Goode Volunteer Rescue Squad in its forming or as it grows."
by CNB