Without financial assistance from the communities it serves, the Tamaqua Ambulance Association likely won’t be able to survive.

Representatives from the emergency service provider went to Tuesday’s Coaldale Borough Council meeting to ask the borough to consider its support.

“If we don’t get any funding, I can’t guarantee that we will be around,” said John Cray, the ambulance’s director of operations since March 2021. “And it’s not just us.”

The ambulance serves the boroughs of Tamaqua and Coaldale, along with the townships of Rush, Schuylkill and Walker. It also provides mutual aid to places like West Penn and Ryan townships, Cray said.

“We don’t get a dime from any municipality,” Cray said. “And I’m not crying about it - I’m just saying.”

In 2022, the association responded to 2,111 calls, compared to the 1,872 it handled in 2021. Coaldale’s calls numbered 299 in 2022.

“Everybody thinks that we bill third party billing companies and get millions of dollars a year,” Cray said. “But we do not. A lot of people don’t pay their ambulance bills.”

The ambulance only pulls funds from the annual subscription requests that are mailed to individuals and families, and “whatever we get” from the third party billing companies, Cray said.

With 30 employees - 20 of whom are emergency medical technicians - the ambulance is struggling to meet payroll.

Cray said diesel fuel costs rose from $8,000 in 2021 to $24,000 in 2022.

He gave council copies of the ambulance expenses and income. Despite the hardships, Cray said, the ambulance has been able to respond to calls around the clock.

“We have not gone out of service, not at all, day or night,” Cray said.

Coaldale was the first municipality visited by ambulance personnel. Representatives also intend to ask the other municipalities served to consider assistance.

No one really respects EMS until they call and ask for an ambulance,” Cray said. “If there is not funding, you’re waiting 45 minutes for an ambulance” from an out-of-area provider.

Council agreed to meet with ambulance officials to discuss ways to help.

“It’s a cry for help. We gotta do something,” Cray said.