ITHACA, N.Y. (WHCU) – Tompkins County administrators are set to continue discussions with municipal leaders about how to fund an emergency services pilot program.

At a recent Tompkins County Council of Governments meeting, a resolution was unanimously passed urging the county to assume the full cost of the second year of the Rapid Medical Response Pilot Program. The program, which seeks to cut down on slow response times and provide advanced life support services where gaps exist in the county, is fully funded through its first year by grant money.

Tompkins County Legislator Lee Shurtleff, who was the county’s Director of Emergency Response for 17 years and a longtime member of the Groton Fire Department, would like to see the county and its municipalities take a broader approach.

Year one of the program officially launched on April 2.