Rescue personnel serving Rockingham and Augusta counties are concerned about getting to residents during emergencies.

The Grottoes Volunteer Rescue Squad has not been able to meet the demand for calls on nights and weekends because of staffing shortages. So they're trying to find ways to provide emergency services all day, every day.

The Grottoes Rescue Squad is having trouble getting the people to volunteer. However, since members run calls in Augusta and Rockingham counties, the squad has turned to officials in both counties for help. The counties tried assisting with recruitment.

"Anything that we could think of as a group to try to recruit additional volunteers into the organization," says Rockingham County Fire & Rescue Chief Robert Symons.

All over the Valley and around the nation, squads have run into trouble getting new volunteers.

"It's a very big commitment because you've got a lot of training," says Symons. "You know, they've got training, they've got fund raisers, you've got emergency responses."

Wednesday night, Augusta County Board Members decided to follow Rockingham County's lead and dish out $7,500 for three months to help pay overtime and part-time professional staff to cover overnight and weekend hours when calls were being missed.

"We want to try to do this in a regional way," says Augusta County Assistant County Administrator John C. McGehee.

The Grottoes squad wasn't able to respond to about 20 percent of calls between January and May this year, mostly on nights and weekends.

"And those people, when they call 911, if they need a rescue squad, they expect a rescue squad," says McGehee.

Slightly more than half of the calls that comes in to the Grottoes Squad are in Augusta County. The counties and the squad say they'll continue trying to bring in new volunteers, which could bring relief.

"But we don't know that. So, we have to make sure we prepare for having the area covered, you know, for the service," says McGehee.

Officials in Augusta County say they still need to meet with officials in Rockingham County to figure out what they'll do for the long-term.