HAWLEY — After about nine months serving as Hawley’s primary ambulance service, the Shelburne Falls Fire District has announced it will no longer be answering calls in Hawley after Nov. 25.

As a potential solution to its ambulance needs, the town is looking to develop a regional ambulance service that would provide 24/7 Advanced Life Support to the county.

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.

Hawley Fire Lt. and Selectboard member Hussain Hamdan said, “A regional full-time service might serve the area better. We could have a full-time staff, it could be 24/7, there would be no delay time getting a crew together to respond to a call, [it could] be centrally located and even though all the towns would need to pay for it, spreading it out across the county would reduce those costs to a point where it could be affordable.”

Due to the town’s size and location, Hamdan said Hawley does not want to be — nor believes it can be — the main town to host and manage a regional service, but the town would like to be part of the coverage area for one. A regional service could provide the area access to paramedics with advanced training who could provide support on a full-time basis, and if costs are divided among participating towns based on population and call volume, the service just may be affordable, he said.

At this point, a regional ambulance service is just an idea. Hamdan said he and other Hawley officials do not have any estimates on how much it would cost and who may participate, but the town is looking to drum up interest. He noted the state has supported regionalization projects like this in the past, and there may be grant funding to aid in planning and implementation.

Hamdan said there are two potential structures a regional service could take: government-run through an inter-municipal agreement, or the towns fund and contract with a private not-for-profit ambulance company. Both offer the same services and support to patients but would differ in administrative organization.

Hawley’s interest in a regional ambulance service comes as the clock has started ticking to the end of its mutual aid support from the Shelburne Falls Fire District.

In January, the state Office of Emergency Medical Services revoked the license of Adams Ambulance, Hawley’s previous service provider. The state cited the ambulance service’s failure to meet state regulations, such as maintaining proper 24/7 staffing. At that time, the Hawley Selectboard determined that relying on mutual aid, primarily though the Shelburne Falls Fire District, would cover the town’s needs while Adams Ambulance sought an appeal of the state’s decision, but that was unsuccessful.

“We were served by Adams Ambulance until the state abruptly rescinded their license in January,” Hamdan said. “At that time there was some discussion of the possibility that Adams Ambulance was going to engage in an appeal process and get their license back. It turned out, subsequently, they were unsuccessful in their efforts.”

Hamdan said the town is grateful for the Shelburne Falls Fire District’s aid over the past several months.

“We recently received a letter from the Shelburne Falls Fire District, which oversees the ambulance, and they do not wish to be a primary provider to Hawley any longer, and will not be, come the 25th of November,” Hamdan said. “There are geographic constraints and financial constraints. … Any service who wants to cover us is going to incur expenses. The ambulance business these days is not exactly profitable.”

Hamdan explained that geographically, Hawley is inconveniently located for the Shelburne Falls Fire District. The Shelburne Falls station is 13 miles away from Hawley’s town center. Furthermore, if the district had an ambulance tied up in Hawley and a call came in requiring assistance in Shelburne Falls, the district would have a difficult time responding to that call in a timely manner.

On Sept. 26, Hamdan sent a letter to every Franklin County town, fire district, and some regional and state government organizations to see if anyone might be interested in discussing the idea further.

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

The letter has been discussed at various Selectboard meetings over the past few weeks, and most boards in western Franklin County have agreed they would not sign up for a new service without first hearing from their fire departments and ambulance providers. However, several boards are open to exploring the possibility.

“I think everybody’s at the point where you’re just trying to pay for your ambulance and support your town,” said Charlemont Town Administrator Sarah Reynolds. “Staffing, finances … it’s just difficult.”

Hamdan said a regional ambulance service “is a when, not an if,” but Hawley will look to formally contract with an existing ambulance service and pay for the services, rather than rely on mutual aid, if it looks like a regional service may not happen in the immediate future.

“We have to work with someone. Having our own ambulance is not an option. We’d never be able to afford that and we don’t have the personnel to staff it,” Hamdan said. “I am close to 100% this will happen. I’m not sure it will happen now, I’m not sure it’s going to happen two years from now, but if you look at the trends in this area and in western Massachusetts, I don’t think there’s any alternative to having a regional service.”

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