Although volunteers still respond to about 500 call each year, they are spending less time on each response. Volunteers have traditionally spent as much as one hour per call away from their families, providing ambulance transport. Now, by responding in their personal vehicles and functioning as a first responder and only riding in with EMS when needed, they are spending less time away from their families. Volunteers can concentrate more on training for the rescue service they provide, such as vehicle extrication, missing person search and water related emrgencies. This improves morale since they make so many sacrifices just to attend meetings and training sessions to maintain their skills in the totally volunteer rescue aspect of the organization.
Fundraisers are the only way to obtain and maintain equipment and training for rescue.
The Town of Star makes a substantial contribution to EMR each year, but no county or state tax dollars are allocated to the rescue service on the east side. In 1988, grant funds became available through the N.C. Department of Insurance for rescue equipment. In order to be eligible for these funds, EMR needed a contract with Montgomery County to provide rescue services. The contract was granted but no funds were made available to EMR from the county. In order to continue to provide rescue services, EMR must increase community support.