DUANESBURG — Facing a membership crisis and looming insolvency, the Duanesburg Volunteer Ambulance Corps’ Board of Directors Tuesday declared more than dozen members inactive, including the former captain many had faulted for the company’s unrest.

Bruce Smith was among the 13 members effectively expelled from the organization during an emergency board meeting. Chairman Charles Leoni read the resolution, which was affirmed by three of four board members present.

“Their presence on DVAC property is no longer permitted and they are ordered to return any equipment,” he said.

Board member Sharon Smith, Bruce Smith’s wife, did not attend the meeting. The fourth board member, Tammy Nunez, abstained from the vote because her name was among those expelled.

Crew Chief Marc DeBraccio, also among those volunteers declared inactive, threw down his keys in disgust and stripped off an ambulance corps shirt before abruptly leaving. Outside the station, he said the board’s move left him shocked and dumbfounded.

“This totally blindsided me,” he said. “I had no idea this was coming.”

Nunez was equally caught off guard by the move. Her only inclination of the pending resolution came when she was unable to use her swipe card to enter the station.

“If they need crews, then why are they cutting these people from the roster,” she asked. “I hope they know what they’re doing.”

But the abrupt expulsion of former members was followed by an influx of new volunteers. The ambulance corps enlisted 25 during the meeting, including some who swore a return to the organization if there were a change in leadership.

“Hopefully, with this new group, we can establish a new roster,” said Bill Grimm, president of the company’s support members.

Leoni said the removal of the inactive members demonstrates the ambulance corps’ renewed interest in adhering to its bylaws. He said some of the recent troubles have stemmed from a lack of cohesion when it came to following the rules.

“If you volunteer, you have to volunteer by the rules of the organization,” he said.

In February, Duanesburg officials informed State Police dispatchers in Princetown to stop calling the ambulance corps for emergencies until they could produce a schedule of when volunteers were available. They later amended this request to give the ambulance corps three minutes to be en route to an emergency before dispatchers would call crews from Rotterdam or Schenectady.

The Town Board extended this time to eight minutes in March, after the ambulance corps provided the rosters they had requested. Since that time, the ambulance corps has continued to miss calls, even during times when rosters submitted to the town suggested they had available crews.

The board decision to remove the members came under the recommendations of a town-hired attorney, Terry Hannigan, and Gerry Dwyer, a local lawyer who advises the corps. Dwyer said he realized the company needed a marked change in direction after reviewing some of the slow response times in March.

“At that point, it became evident that something needed to be done,” he said.

Dwyer said the members determined to be inactive hadn’t included their names as part of the rosters submitted to the town over the past two months. He said those members declared inactive could only return if the organization voted to accept them back in.

The membership turnover also opens the possibility for funding from the town, which provided $43,000 to the ambulance service last year. Supervisor Rene Merrihew expects to meet with the Town Board in the next week to discuss emergency funding to keep the ambulance corps solvent.

“It would benefit all of us to get some funds to the ambulance corps at least on a life-support basis,” she said following the meeting.