BELLEVILLE, Wis. — Sugar River EMS plans to expand its regional emergency medical service to the Town of Perry and the Town of York beginning in 2027, extending coverage across parts of Dane and Green counties. The additions will bring the agency’s service area to nine communities. Both townships are expected to be served primarily from Sugar River EMS’s New Glarus station, which Deputy Chief Josh Wescott said is only minutes away. The agency, formerly known as Belleville EMS, began shifting toward a regional model about a year ago when it added New Glarus to its coverage. It now operates stations in Belleville and New Glarus, with two ambulances at each location. One full-time crew is stationed at each facility around the clock, while two additional ambulances can be deployed when call volumes surge. Sugar River EMS also works with the Belleville and New Glarus fire departments. Its roughly 85 employees are paid hourly after the department moved away from an all-volunteer structure several years ago. “It takes money, but that’s why pooling resources, having now nine communities share their budgets and share that cost, just makes it easier than if any one of us were to have to bite off this challenge alone,” Wescott said. Wescott said keeping crews at stations rather than relying on responders to leave home after a 911 call is central to the model’s faster response times. “When you call 911, they’re going to be coming,” he said. Perry approved a 10-year contract with Sugar River EMS, according to Town Chairman Roger Kittleson. The town has about 750 residents. Kittleson said the town board visited the New Glarus station before unanimously approving the agreement. Response time was a major consideration, he said. Kittleson estimated that an ambulance can leave the station about two minutes after a call comes in, and said the additional cost works out to roughly $50 compared with the town’s previous arrangement. Kittleson has personal experience with the stakes of emergency access. He said he suffered a heart attack on his farm in December during snowy conditions that required four-wheel-drive access. His son began providing aid until responders arrived, including Kittleson’s daughter, who was an EMT at the time. A medical helicopter later transported him. “That’s what we’re elected to do is look out for the health of the people, safety and health,” Kittleson said of the town’s decision. The expansion also required changes to emergency dispatch across the county line. Dane and Green counties operate separate 911 centers, and calls from Green County communities previously could be transferred between centers before an ambulance was dispatched. Sugar River EMS worked with the two dispatch centers and sheriff’s offices so calls can be answered and dispatched directly through the county where the caller is located. Crews are trained on both radio systems, and each ambulance carries equipment for both. Wescott said the agency reviewed its staffing and fleet before agreeing to serve Perry and York and concluded it could absorb the added territory. He said Sugar River EMS intends to expand gradually rather than take on communities faster than its resources allow. The agency is also communicating with a regional EMS initiative taking shape in southern Dodge County. Wescott said the Sugar River approach could offer a model for other rural communities facing the challenge of maintaining staffed ambulance service. A new ambulance was delivered to the Belleville station on Sept. 23.