PARROTTSVILLE-As of the end of April, the Parrottsville Ambulance Service ceased operations, according to Parrottsville Fire Chief Kenny Trentham.
"The state of Tennessee had about shut us down," said Trentham. "We couldn't be dispatched except as a first responder by E-911. Allied had to handle all the calls. Basically, all we were doing were convalescent calls. That's about all the state would let us do.
"With our insurance cost at $2,000 and our license $1,000, we just couldn't operate on the money we were receiving. We just made the decision to stop running."
Trentham said it is uncertain what will be done with the ambulance, which is owned by the Parrottsville Volunteer Fire Department.
"We haven't made a decision yet," he said. "We're just going to wait and see what happens during the next few months."
Trentham, who has been fire chief in Parrottsville for five years, said the Parrottsville Ambulance Service had been all volunteers, with four EMTs.
He said budget cuts in recent years contributed to having to close the ambulance service, which reportedly started operating in the 1960s.
"A few years ago we were getting about $42,000 from the county," said Trentham. "Last year they cut us to $30,000 and this year they only gave us $11,000. We just couldn't afford to continue to operate."
"I'm sorry for the citizens of Parrottsville that we no longer have an ambulance service," said Cocke County Mayor Iliff McMahan Jr.
"It was at one time the premier ambulance service in county. I'm saddened that it's folded and we hope in near future the ambulance service will reorganize and once again offer the kind of service to citizens of Parrottsville it did five years ago.