Four months after an ambulance crew was cut from the west bank, the Wilson station still has no emergency medical staff.

Jackson Hole Fire/EMS Interim Chief Willy Watsabaugh said Tuesday that his department continues to look for ways to staff the ambulance parked at the Teton Pines firehouse.

“We’re trying to find money in our budget,” he said. “A few times a week, we are getting those additional calls, multiple calls during day times that that staff would help us. So far, we have been successful in managing those calls. There’s been no delay.”

Watsabaugh is in the midst of completing an analysis of calls from the last four months to see how lack of a west bank ambulance crew has impacted service. That report should be released in the coming weeks, he said.

In September, the crew from the station at Teton Pines was eliminated because of county budget cuts.

The station previously was staffed with two emergency medical technicians from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day. During unstaffed hours, west bank residents were served by an ambulance based in town.

An ambulance crew staffs Station 1, on Pearl Avenue, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Wilson station had an ambulance crew starting in 2006, primarily to serve Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and the Teton Village Clinic.

Although there is no crew there, an ambulance is still parked at the Teton Pines station.

Chairman Hank Phibbs said the Teton County Board of Commissioners is looking for ways to man the west bank station with an ambulance crew. That could be more difficult because  the county’s 2010-11 budget may be down another $3 million because of declining property taxes.

“Given that we are looking at substantive decreases in revenue coming form the property tax stream, it’s going to be challenging,” he said. “I know I’m personally committed to it as are a number of other commissioners.”

Watsabaugh said his forthcoming report will show the number of calls received since September and response times for those calls.

He said it’s notable that just 30 percent to 35 percent of calls are received during the hours the station was previously staffed. The rest of the calls fall between 6 p.m. and 10 a.m.

“Obviously by being staffed [starting] at 10 a.m. we miss some of that morning commute,” he said. “Then closing at 6 at night, we’re just in the middle of the evening commute, especially in summer.”

Watsabaugh said his department has shuffled crews from town and Adams Canyon to respond to emergency medical calls in past months. Officials also page volunteers to respond from the Teton Pines station, where an ambulance is parked.

Just last week, the department received multiple calls at the same time.

Crews were deployed to the Teton Pines station to scramble the ambulance there. They pulled the other from Adams Canyon, using a combination of paid staff and volunteers to respond.

“We are constantly jockeying how our crews are configured,” Watsabaugh said.