All towns need first responders for medical emergencies. But, here in Ross, our town finds itself in a situation where it might lose them.

The nearest first responders could be in a neighboring town, significantly increasing emergency response times. The response time for residents in Ross and many other Marin locations is currently under eight minutes. Without first responders in Ross, this would increase to more than 10 minutes, a response time more typically found in outer suburban areas, which would significantly delay emergency care. In many medical emergencies — cardiac arrest, stroke, head injury or serious accidents — every second counts.

Ross is at risk of losing its first responders because of a 2021 decision by the Ross Town Council to close the Ross fire station, effective July 2025. This decision was made after extensive consideration of resident needs, fire data and construction costs.

Ross’ fire station and paramedic ambulance station are badly outdated. Town officials were faced with a decision about whether to rebuild both the ambulance facility and the fire station, or just the ambulance facility. Rebuilding both facilities would cost $14 million more than rebuilding just the ambulance facility.

However, more important than cost considerations to the decision to close the fire station were data provided by fire officials indicating two important things. There are almost no structure fires in Ross, thus fire protection could reasonably be provided by a neighboring fire engine, and, more importantly, the emergency medical response, even if the fire station were to be closed, would be unchanged for 85% of calls with the ongoing presence of the Ross Valley Paramedic Authority ambulance in Ross.

The assurance that emergency response times would remain unchanged for 85% of medical calls was made multiple times by the Ross Valley Fire Department chief to Ross residents, including at a community workshop, at a town council meeting and on PowerPoint presentations. Thus, based on these assurances from fire staff, closing the fire station was expected to have minimal consequences to public safety.

But the reality is quite different: The RVPA ambulance might not be based in Ross long-term in part because the authority could dissolve due to organizational changes. And even if an ambulance remains based in Ross after closure of the fire station, its availability for Ross calls would be closer to 40% instead of 85%, according to the Citygate Associates 2024 study of emergency medical response in the Ross Valley.

It’s unlikely that Ross residents, or residents of any town, would have agreed to close their fire station, with its 24/7 emergency responders, had they known that closure would result in potentially life-threatening delays in emergency medical responses. The Town Council made its 2021 decision to close its fire station based on assurances from fire officials that the emergency medical function in Ross would be unchanged for 85% of calls.

The council asked the other member agencies of the RVFD — Fairfax, Sleepy Hollow and San Anselmo — to delay the closure of the Ross fire station to give Ross, the RVPA and the RVFD time to develop a plan to ensure that Ross, like other communities served by RVFD, continues to have emergency medical responders available to respond rapidly.

Unfortunately, RVFD officials did not support this request, and its Board of Directors denied the request to delay the closure at their Jan. 8 meeting.

Fire officials say a major reason to close the Ross fire station is the ability to transfer those firefighters to other engines, increasing engine staffing from two to three people. But this shouldn’t be an either/or situation, that is, that either Ross continues to have good emergency medical response times or that fire engines are staffed with three people.

Upstaffing the RVFD engines shouldn’t come at the expense of providing adequate emergency service to any jurisdiction. Provision of lifesaving emergency medical services is an essential public safety function. Every jurisdiction — including Ross — should have excellent first responder service. Marin communities should be able to find ways to provide adequate engine staffing without sacrificing a town’s emergency response services.

Dr. Elizabeth Robbins is a member of the Ross Town Council. She’s lived there for more than 30 years.