SOUTH DEERFIELD — With the departure of South County EMS’ first and only chief, the department’s Board of Oversight and the Deerfield Selectboard have tapped another longtime resident to serve as interim chief.

The boards officially appointed Tim Drumgool after interviewing him at a June 30 joint meeting in the wake of Zoe Smith’s resignation. Smith is taking a job with the Department of Public Health’s Office of Emergency Services.

Drumgool, 30, a Deerfield native and lifelong Franklin County resident, has been with South County EMS since its inception and also worked with Deerfield’s ambulance service prior to that. He has been a paramedic with the agency since 2014 and was recommended by Smith as a interim replacement.

“I was very flattered when Zoe approached me,” Drumgool said by phone Friday morning, adding that the agency has been Smith’s “baby” and that it’s an honor to take over for a short period. “It’s still a little surreal feeling sitting in that office.”

Smith previously said Drumgool has served in a coordinator role and has helped manage day-to-day operations for quite a while, which, alongside his willingness to step up, made him a good candidate for an interim role.

Drumgool said his main priority is to ensure the agency continues its stellar service and the only major challenge he sees is the learning curve that comes with taking on any supervisory role. The staff of South County EMS have been active at oversight meetings and Drumgool said those are the people he relies on the most.

“Keep a tight ship, keep things going. If we can find things to improve, great,” he said. “I’m not anticipating any big hurdles.”

To compensate him for his new duties, the Board of Oversight and Deerfield Selectboard also approved a monthly $1,250 stipend, which will also be reviewed each month. South County EMS’ director role is also a working one, meaning Drumgool and any future permanent hire will continue working in the field alongside their employees.

As he steps into the role, the Board of Oversight will be discussing the search process for a new chief at its July 18 meeting. A key point in that discussion will be if the board wants to appoint a search committee that can interview candidates outside of a public meeting. Without a search committee, any interviews, including first-round and preliminary ones, conducted by the Board of Oversight would be public, which board members mentioned may dissuade people from applying.

For Drumgool, he said he’s happy to help out now, but he would also feel “very comfortable” staying a paramedic when a new chief is hired because working on the ambulance is what he loves.

Job description and inter-municipal agreement

As the agency searches for a new chief for the first time in its history, the Board of Oversight has determined it’s a good opportunity to take a new look at the job description and inter-municipal agreement.

Much of the work entails adjusting the chief’s job description to fit Deerfield’s format because it is the fiscal agent of the service.

Another main point is laying out in plain language that the chief’s role is twofold, involving both administrative work and occasional work on the ambulance, with Sunderland member Christyl Drake-Tremblay noting that someone applying to the job needs to be aware of this.

“Someone applying for this from the outside will realize this is not strictly an administrative job,” she said.

Alongside the job description, the inter-municipal agreement also needs some housekeeping, with board members identifying a few sections that need to be cleaned up since it is nearly 10 years old at this point.

The South County EMS Board of Oversight will reconvene on July 18 to further discuss the job description and make a decision on the hiring process for a new chief.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.

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