Bristol Life Saving Crew warns of impending possible closure
BRISTOL, Va. (WJHL) — The Bristol Life Saving Crew informed the Bristol Virginia City Council on Tuesday that unless some action is taken, the service will close its doors within 90 days.
Curtis Mink with the Bristol Life Saving Crew spoke at the end of the city council meeting and told council members that the service's funds were all but depleted.
'I come to give some bad news for the citizens of Bristol, Virginia and for you, council,' Mink said.
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According to Mink, for 78 years, the life saving crew has never received any money from the city.
'You don't know how much, for 78 years, the Bristol Life Saving Crew has saved you millions and millions of dollars,' Mink said. 'Tonight, I'm coming to you with very bad news. That free service that the Bristol Life Saving Crew is giving is running out.'
Mink referenced the rescue squad's financials from the previous year, when he said it came up short $137,000. The Bristol Life Saving Crew had set up a growth stock mutual fund years prior and was able to make up that shortfall with funds made through its investments, something Mink said has happened several other times in the past.
The root of the life saving crew's woes is not a lack of staff, Mink said, but tied to a reduction in overall volunteerism and donating seen in other sectors. He told the council 33 employees, a mixture of career responders and volunteers, keep the Bristol Life Saving Crew operating.
'That's not the problem,' Mink said. 'It's our funding and our financing.'
According to Mink, the service receives funding from three sources: major billing (Medicare), a letter fund drive (Mink said that typically raises about $24,000) and donations. Those donations can come from the state or private entities, and the United Way and Hard Rock Bristol Hotel & Casino have contributed to the life saving crew as well.
'What's happened is we can't keep drawing, we can't keep drawing,' Mink said.
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He told the council that keeping up income for the career members has become difficult, and Mink said when the city's fire department started providing ambulance services in 2018, it took money from the Bristol Life Saving Crew.
The Bristol Life Saving Crew hit its budget almost exactly in 2017, according to Mink. He said that was the last time the service was able to do so.
Mink's time expired, but the council allowed him time to wrap up his comments. Bristol Virginia Mayor Becky Nave told him she would speak with him further and said this was the first she had heard of the issue.
'We can follow up afterwards cause I don't think I've had any information on this before,' Nave said.
As he finished speaking, Mink said the life saving crew has limited time left without some form of intervention.
'I want to give the citizens enough notice,' Mink said. 'This is a very serious thing. We hope that we can stay in business for another 90 days. We hope that. I don't know what kind of mayhem that's gonna cause, but it's gonna be bad, I'm afraid. I wish I had better news, but we have done everything to try to stop this. We downsized our service, we sold this, we've cut here, we've cut there, and it's still not working.'
Mink stated he does not think the solution is for the city to write the Bristol Life Saving Crew a check. Instead, he recommended that the council form an EMS committee that meets and reports back to the city council to address the issues.
'Something has gotta be done, or we'll have no choice but to close our doors in 90 days or less.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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