Community blowback prompted the Wood County sheriff to reinstate a volunteer emergency response unit less than a week after he demobilized the service. Sheriff Thomas Reichert, who is retiring at the end of the year, said in a news release Monday that the "emotional response" from Wood County residents caused him to reinstate the Sheriff's Rescue so that people can have their voice heard with the County Board and the incoming sheriff, Shawn Becker. But the sheriff went on in the release to defend his decision. The County Board voted 19 to 0 to eliminate the Rescue Squad from the 2019 budget as part of an open, public process, Reichert said. He said he also discussed eliminating the Sheriff's Rescue with the Wood County Fire Chiefs Association in October and encountered no objections.