The Conemaugh Township EMS has been struggling financially and if they don't find help soon, emergency officials said they could be in danger of closing.


Most of the EMS funding actually comes from memberships. In fact, EMS officials  claimed they wouldn't be in trouble if everyone became a member.

On Tuesday, township supervisors discussed creating an ordinance that would require residents to do just that. They said it would be more beneficial than raising taxes.

"We've got a great EMS service that is very, very important and we want to see it stay afloat," Supervisor Albert Zuccolotto said. "So naturally we're going to do what we can to help them, but we want to do the right thing in relationship with taxpayers also."

"For 17 years now, as a paid professional service, its grown to where we have three ambulances now and we're advanced life support," Terry Ruparcic, EMS manager, said. "We have state of the art equipment and we want to keep doing what we need to do for the community."

Currently an annual membership to Conemaugh Township EMS costs $40 per household. The benefit is that it prevents you from paying the amount your insurance company doesn't cover if you were to need their services.