(MOVILLE, IA) - Rural ambulance services can mean the difference between life and death in northwest Iowa. But a decade of dwindling support has left several community services facing an uncertain future.

Tom Chartier has responded to hundreds of calls since joining Moville EMS in the 1980's. He mostly joined because of its solid reputation, he said, adding "just the people on the squad, and the enthusiasm, and they were good friends." Today he's joined by 22 other volunteers. But these days more and more are commuting from Main Street to work in Sioux City. "20 years ago we had 8 or 9 that worked on Main Street in Moville, and now there's 1," Chartier explained. That means for a mid-afternoon call, only a few folks are even available to respond.

"I really think the whole county has a lot of problems with this," Chartier said, explaining nearby Anthon is especially low on volunteers. City leaders held a recruiting meeting in that community Thursday evening. Chartier says if one department folds, all 12 across Woodbury County would risk going under. "I don't think the surrounding communities are in no position to fill that void."

Fellow Moville EMS member Jeff Crick says, "it's because all of us are losing, have lost, main street businesses, and that's where a lot of our big time help came out of." He worries that in the next five years, unless something changes, the area will have to go from a local, volunteer based operation to one that's county-wide and paid." Crick says the response time could be 30 to 45 minutes.

Several departments beyond Anthon are focusing on recruitment, knowing the more people step up, the less burden goes on individual volunteers' personal and professional lives. It's a major commitment. There's more than 100 hours involved in certification, alone, but volunteers say the friendship and service to community is worth twice the time.

 

Reported by Jeremy Maskel. You can reach Jeremy at jmaskel@kmeg.com.