| New
ambulance arrives
St. Mary’s Hospital recently received their new ambulance purchased with funds from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Emergency Medical Services Bureau. 
The $82,500 grant also included funds for a radio and new gurney. “We picked up the ambulance last Friday from Clark Communications in Lewiston after its radio was installed. On Saturday we worked with the Cottonwood Volunteer Fire Department to unload the old ambulance and swap the necessary equipment and supplies. It’s important they know where everything on the ambulance can be found because we are often together at an accident scene,” said Angie Ahlers, SMHC EMT Secretary. “We also had studded snow tires installed to make the ambulance as safe as possible. We still need to affix the St. Mary’s emblem on the side, but our new ambulance is set to go ahead of schedule.” The SMHC Ambulance Service will continue to use a second ambulance that is six years old. It only has 70,000 miles of service, according to Ahlers. The oldest ambulance was over 14 years old and had over 100,000 miles. It has been decommissioned. According to Pam McBride, SMHC grant writer, the State Office of Rural Health also contributed $3,000 towards furnishing the new vehicle. “These funds are designated for Critical Access Hospitals for improvements of their EMS coordination.” SMHC operates its EMS services without additional tax revenues on a fee-for-service basis. The local volunteer EMT organization is always looking for additional members to serve the community. They recently received a donation of $1,000 from the Cottonwood Lions Club to train four new female EMTS. If you would like more information, please call Ahlers, SMHC, 962.3251. |
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