Due to a lack of call volume and geographic isolation, the far edges of the county are often the most underserved from an emergency medical services perspective.

The Warren County Sheriff’s Office is taking steps to address that.

“The Sheriff’s Office hatched a plan to train deputies to be emergency medical responders,” Sheriff Ken Klakamp said, “because we’re out in the county, mostly (in) areas that don’t have a law enforcement agency other than the state police.”

So the goal is to certify the department as a quick response service — or QRS unit.

QRS units respond to EMS calls in advance of the ambulance before turning over care to the EMTs once the ambulance arrives.

Klakamp said the plan is coming to fruition — the medical equipment has been purchased and the “majority of it should be here by the end of the week” and a physician has agreed to be their medical director.

He said two deputies are rostered with training planned for four more.

“We’re already carrying AEDs on board,” he said, as well as narcan for overdoses. “To me this was a natural progression. We hope to have the majority of the work done by the end of the year.”

He said the aim is to have one car focus in the eastern part of the county and the other in the west.

The Warren County EMS Council, he said, donated the funds to purchase the equipment, augmented by CARES Act funding.

“We’re trying to do our part,” he said.