WEST CHAZY -- Residents of Chazy and West Chazy will have additional emergency medical coverage thanks to a new agreement with CVPH Medical Center.

Paid emergency medical technicians from CVPH will cover the Chazy and West Chazy fire districts from the Beekmantown fire station.

They will be on call, available for all 911 calls, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day.

The move was designed to give both districts more coverage during day and early evening hours when volunteer responses can be slowed by a lack of available members.

"A lot of our EMTs work out of town during the day, so this is a win-win for us," Chazy Fire Chief Michael Cahoon said.

Both departments realized that with the number of volunteer EMTs dwindling, supplemental coverage was needed.

"This gives us a chance to be proactive," James Kelley, chairman of the West Chazy Fire Commissioners, said.

"We were relying on so few people we had to plan ahead."

Kelley said having paid staffers of their own in West Chazy would have been cost prohibitive.

Utilizing CVPH, which already covers several other towns in the county, was feasible.

"This is an example of where shared services can pay off," Kelley said.

Both Chazy and West Chazy will pay CVPH $12,000 per year for the coverage. CVPH will be allowed to transport and bill patients.

Michael Lagree, director of EMTs at CVPH, said Chazy and West Chazy will still need volunteers.

"Job one is patient care," Lagree said.

"This is not an us-versus-them situation. We are in this together to make this successful for everyone, and volunteers are still needed very much."