A new ambulance service will be covering the Pocahontas-Old Ripley Fire Protection District beginning October 1.
The fire district board passed a motion at a meeting last Thursday to have A1 Emergency Medical Services of Altamont be the ambulance service provider.
A1 will provide basic life service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with crew members staying at the firehouse, where the ambulances are housed.
Don Hawley, president of the fire district board, said for the first year, the district is giving its two ambulances and equipment to A1. Those items have a value of about $76,000.
Hawley said after the first year, the fire district will be paying A1 approximately $70,000 a year.
According to Hawley, all of the previous Pocahontas-Old Ripley ambulance employees have either been retained by A1 or have been hired by another EMS organization.
A1 Emergency Medical Services is now hiring EMTs, AEMTs and paramedics for the Pocahontas-Old Ripley area coverage.
The district had been providing ambulance service since 1985. Hawley said securing an ambulance service had to occur because the district is out of volunteers and doesn’t have the money to hire full-time paramedics and EMTs.
