美国国家公共电台 NPR--High gas prices are hitting emergency service providers hard

（单词翻译）

High gas prices are hitting emergency service providers hard

Transcript¹

First responders across the country say they are adopting cost-cutting measures as pump prices eat into their budgets.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Commuters aren't the only ones feeling the pain of gas prices. First responders are also spending a lot more.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

And it's hitting small-town budgets really hard. Sheriff Joel Ellifritz (ph) in Mineral County, W.Va., says they were caught off guard.

FORREST ELLIFRITZ: We probably figured, you know, up to $3, a little over $3 a gallon average, but nobody's seen it going up this high.

MARTIN: They've tried to cut costs by reassigning officers so they don't have to drive as far.

ELLIFRITZ: I think we're still providing, you know, the necessary patrols² and stuff. We're just - a difference on how we're doing it.

MART?NEZ: Joel Fey is an EMS manager in Trumansburg, N.Y. He says they decided³ to cut the engines on ambulances while waiting for calls, which means also powering down refrigerators and heaters to store medication. And Fey says that's not ideal.

JOEL FEY: That electricity needs to be there. Those medications need to be at temperature. And if they're not, they need to be discarded and replaced.

MARTIN: He also worries the rising costs will put a burden on local taxpayers⁴.

FEY: Increase in cost to us may end up causing an increase to our tax base, which is not something I think any of us want by any means.

MART?NEZ: But Fey says they're still committed to getting the job done.

FEY: The bottom line is we need to answer our calls. How we do that - we will cross that bridge when we need to. We need to be able to provide that care for our community.

MARTIN: And they have to do so no matter how high gas prices go.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE SIX PARTS SEVEN'S "ALREADY ELSEWHERE")