Lanesborough, Massachusetts will pay its police department bonuses to help staff the ambulance service.
The Lanesborough Board of Selectmen has negotiated a new contract with its police union to include bonus pay for officers to fill in as ambulance drivers, if needed.
The town’s ambulance service has less than 10 people on its payroll. Those employees could also work more hours for more pay.
iBerkshires reports that the police union was reluctant. There is often just one officer on duty at a time, who would need to be cleared before helping in life-threatening cases only.
The town has talked about adopting county ambulance services instead.