South County EMS Board Launches Chief Search, Defers Interim Decision to April 21

WHATELY — April 7, 2026 — South County EMS Board of Oversight opens chief search as June vacancy looms. The three-town board, representing Deerfield, Whately, and Sunderland, voted unanimously to approve prior minutes and began outlining a hiring process after Chief Josh Dudeck announced his position becomes vacant June 22. Deerfield Town Administrator Christopher Dunn explained a roughly 30 percent jump in indirect costs billed to the regional service, attributing it to a $400,000 ambulance purchase and a drop in Deerfield's overall budget caused by the absence of a $4 million Community Preservation Act expenditure from the prior year. The board agreed to route two draft mutual aid agreements with Hatfield — both setting a $350 service charge — to legal counsel before any vote. A planned executive session on interim chief arrangements was tabled to a special meeting April 21. Full-time paramedic Morgan Karrick's notice to shift to part-time to attend nursing school full time also prompted the board to authorize a separate internal hiring process to fill the vacancy.