Each time an emergency medical response call came into the Craigsville Volunteer Fire Department this year, the volunteers felt a familiar feeling of neglect wash over.
They were unmotivated to answer it, which lead to 18 missed calls.
“They’re standing there with their hands in their pockets,” Fire Chief Tracy Martin said.
While the paid staff of the Craigsville-Augusta Springs Rescue Squad did all of the work on the calls, the volunteers were left on the sidelines, Martin said. That disregard for the volunteers led the department to vote at its meeting Aug. 7 to relinquish the EMS license it held seven years, effective immediately.
The decision had been brewing for awhile, Martin said. When his responders went on calls, they felt useless, he said.
The volunteers had a desire to help, but lacked the opportunity to put their skills to use. That soon turned to discouragement and evolved into opposition to respond to any calls, Martin explained.