HAWLEY — While town officials work out how to address Hawley’s ambulance needs, Colrain will step in and cover emergency calls for the foreseeable future.

Hawley has been without a primary ambulance provider since last January, when its contracted provider, Adams Ambulance, had its license revoked by the state Office of Emergency Medical Services for failure to meet state regulations, such as maintaining proper 24/7 staffing. The town has been relying on mutual aid since then, primarily from the Shelburne Falls Fire District. However, as of Nov. 25, the district said it will no longer respond to calls in Hawley, citing financial and geographic constraints.

Town officials are working to come up with a long-term solution for its ambulance needs, including exploring the idea of developing a full-time regional ambulance service, but in the meantime, the Colrain Volunteer Ambulance Association has offered to help.

“As a nonprofit community ambulance, we’ll do the best we can to help them,” said Colrain Ambulance Director/CEO Gary Ponce. “It’s a troubling but not uncommon situation in small rural towns to need others to come in and provide an ambulance service.”

Ponce said it costs $1 million a year to operate a service with singular ambulance, or more for larger departments, something that is not feasible for most small towns. According to Colrain’s 2023 town report, Colrain Ambulance has 20 on-call volunteers.

Hawley Selectboard member Hussain Hamdan, who also serves as Hawley fire lieutenant, said there are typically between 30 and 40 calls for emergency medical services in town each year. With a small population and limited budget, the town cannot maintain its own ambulance. Colrain and Hawley are roughly 15 miles apart, so it will take an ambulance at least 30 minutes to arrive. The Colrain Volunteer Ambulance Association operates one of the few paramedic-level ambulance services in Franklin County, with the next closest to Hawley being in Greenfield.

Hawley Administrative Assistant Tinky Weisblat said the town is still looking into the possibility of pursuing a regional ambulance service that would provide 24/7 Advanced Life Support, but it would take a long time to set up.

The idea has been explored before, and similar regional services have already been established, like South County EMS, which provides paramedic services to the towns of Deerfield, Sunderland and Whately, and Highland Ambulance, which covers Ashfield, Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Plainfield and Williamsburg. Similarly, Northfield EMS has grown to serve Northfield, Bernardston, Gill and part of Erving.

Many towns in rural areas rely on Basic Life Support services that can be provided by volunteer fire departments.

In late September, Hamdan sent a letter to every Franklin County town, fire district, and some regional and state government organizations to see if anyone might like to discuss the idea of a regional ambulance service further.

“We have received a number of responses that indicate there may be a certain level of interest in doing something like this,” he said in October.

Ponce said Colrain will assist Hawley while the town is in a transition period between services.

“We’re gonna help out the best we can,” Ponce said.

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recorder.com.