From 1971 to October 1, 1997 Essex Rescue had been solely funded from donations and fund raising efforts. Essex Rescue is very proud that we have provided emergency medical service and transports for over 25 years at absolutely no cost to our patients! However, due to the large increase in medical care costs and the increase in cost to maintain our ambulances, equipment, and training, we reached a point in which we would be unable to provide the top quality services that our community is accustomed to unless we received additional funding. Thus, beginning October 1, 1997, Essex Rescue began billing our patients’ insurance companies for emergency medical services provided when we transported a patient to the hospital.