Dec 3, 2002 By Patty Shultz 3 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – A local ambulance service is not seeking life support through a federal bankruptcy court despite rumors to the contrary, according to the company’s top officials. “If there was anything to this, I would certainly know about it and I can assure you there isn’t,” said Bob Topper, Fayette EMS administrative director on Monday. “No one is cleaning out their desk.”

Topper said rumors of the financial demise of the county’s largest ambulance service began to circulate two months ago and to date no one has been able to determine its origin.

Rick Adobato, the company’s director of operations, speculates that a headline in a Pittsburgh-area newspaper last month that indicated a Fayette County ambulance service was in financial trouble could be a possible source of the rumors.

The article dealt with the ongoing fiscal problems of the Washington Township-Fayette City Community Ambulance Service (CAS), which is not affiliated with Fayette EMS.

“When that article appeared, I got all kinds of calls, simply because the headline said a Fayette ambulance service was in trouble,” said Adobato. “Apparently, that’s all they read and figured it was us.”

Adobato said while emergency service organizations throughout the state are having a “hard time” upgrading and purchasing equipment, maintaining personnel and servicing their communities, Fayette EMS has been able to meet its responsibilities.

“Emergency medical services in general are on life support, but we’re still breathing on our own,” he said.

Topper, meanwhile, said the company has recently acquired four emergency response vehicles, including two ambulances.

Along with purchasing a building in Masontown where it will house an ambulance and staff, Fayette EMS is in the process of constructing a site in Dunbar Township in order to better serve the county.

Additionally, the company equipped its ambulances with state-of-the-art heart monitors at a cost of $300,000.

The ambulance service has nine stations based throughout the county and employs 120 paramedics, emergency medical technicians and support staff.

In August, the company did suffer a setback when it was forced to close its Smithfield station after losing thousands of dollars.

“It was a business decision,” said Topper.

“We’re a non-profit organization and we don’t have money to burn and we just couldn’t afford to keep it open.”

Topper said while the company is able to invest in new equipment in order to maintain its service and meet the demands of its clients, to do so is costly.

“No one from the federal government or local officials are writing us checks,” he said.

“We have to balance our books based on the money we generate from our call volume and subscription drives. It can get tough, but we’re surviving.”