There has been a lot of dialogue in Goochland lately.

Through their letters on our editorial page, and at various meetings of various boards, people have been debating how to expand our schools,how motorists and cyclists can share a road, and how to manage a fraud investigation.

But all of these voices blur when compared to the plaintive clarity of a plea that should not be ignored: The need for an EMS system comprised of both volunteers and a staff that is paid directly by the county.

The volunteers that spoke passionately at the Aug. 5 Board of Supervisors meeting endorsed this plan.

These men and women, without exception, expressed their concerns in ways both dignified and persuasive. It can be hard to recruit and retain volunteer EMS staff, they acknowledged. And as one volunteer pointed out, “We do the best we can, but we have jobs, we have to work.”

Most of them rallied around Volunteer Fire-Rescue Chief Ken Brown and Deputy Chief Eddie Ferguson, whom they cited as making the most of bad situation.

For the past 10 years or so the county has been getting by with the help of Lifeline Ambulance Service, a firm that has been contracted to provide salaries for 10 fulltime EMS workers.

That couldn’t have seemed like a permanent solution, but at least it was a step in the right direction. Until last month, when Lifeline workers went to deposit their paychecks—and found out they weren’t worth the paper they were written on.

The employees who had done their part by showing up to work and putting in their hours, suddenly found that they didn’t have the money to pay for their mortgages, utility bills, food or gas.

Debating how and why these people did not get paid is almost irrelevant. The simple fact that they did not is unacceptable.

Last week, at a meeting of the Board of Supervisors to figure out the cause of this debacle, Lifeline’s president and CEO, Jim Jones, said that the bounced checks were a result of the company’s ignorance of the fact that it hadn’t been paid itself, by Medicare.

That inattention to detail doesn’t go far in inspiring confidence or loyalty.

We rely on EMS staff, we count on them being there when an immediate response can mean the difference between life and death.

The people who are willing to react calmly and competently at the scene of a car wreck, a heart attack or a gunshot wound, are the very people who should never have to worry about being taken for granted.

Although the county’s contract with Lifeline isn’t up for renewal until April, the failure to meet its financial obligations would seem to be a reasonable time to look at other options.

As one man stood up and said at the Aug. 5 meeting, the time has come for Goochland to do something about fire and rescue.

And by doing it now, the county has the chance to create a system that will ensure the survival of both its EMS workers and its citizens.

What did the supervisors choose to do, in response to the public’s desire for a county-paid, career EMS staff, in response to its responsibility to protect the employees it has placed in the care of Lifeline?

Nothing. Last week, after calling a special meeting to discuss the matter, the Board ultimately decided to take no action at all.

Leaving unanswered the question asked by one volunteer at the Aug. 5 meeting: “Why are we jeopardizing ambulance service?”