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Lidgerwood Volunteer Ambulance Service |
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109 Park Street West PO Box 416 Lidgerwood, ND 58053 0416
The first organizational meeting for forming a fire district was held on August 20, 1973. The reason for having a fire district was to be able to get funds to start an area ambulance service. The first ambulance was purchased from Shine Walby at this meeting.
The ambulance was first parked in James Hrdlicka’s garage until an ambulance garage, owned by the Lidgerwood Rural Fire District, was built with plans approved on September 16, 1975. A new ambulance was purchased on bids from the Springfield Equipment Company on October 22, 1974.
Pictured from left: Dave Ohm, Albert Neidviecky, Glenn Lueck, Scott Helmer The Lidgerwood Rural Fire Protection District has operated the Lidgerwood Ambulance Service since 1973. Since that time the service has made great strides in the technology it uses, as well as the care and community education its members provide in the Lidgerwood area. In 1994, the fire district purchased a new ambulance from Premier Specialties in Fergus Falls, MN.
In 2004, the Lidgerwood Rural Fire Protection District voted to split with the ambulance. It was decided to form an ambulance district. The organizational meeting was held on December 8, 2004 at the Lidgerwood Fire Hall. The new name is Lidgerwood Rural Ambulance Service District. The Lidgerwood ambulance service is licensed as a BLS (basic life support) service and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The service is dispatched through the 911 system. The Lidgerwood ambulance service is a vital link in the districts emergency medical care. Lidgerwood is approximately 50 miles from the nearest hospital facility. With an average of ten minutes “on scene” time (this is the time when we arrive at the patients’ side, do an assessment, and “package” the patient for transport), it takes us approximately 1 hour to arrive at a hospital emergency room. In our rural area we sometimes travel many miles just to reach the patient. This extends our travel time. We transport patients to St. Francis Healthcare Campus in Breckenridge, MN, Oakes Community Hospital in Oakes, ND, two hospitals in Sisseton, SD, and to Merit Care and Innovis Hospitals in Fargo, ND. When we transport to a Fargo, ND hospital it is an 80 mile drive from Lidgerwood which makes our transport time longer. On the average it is 3-4 hours that our ambulance is out of reach while on a run. The Lidgerwood Rural Ambulance Service District covers the cities of Lidgerwood and Geneseo, and the Richland County township communities of Liberty Grove, Dexter, Grant, Duerr, Moran, and Sargent County township communities of Kingston, Herman, and Marboe. They provide service to the districts 1500 citizens, which covers approximately 350 square miles. The ambulance service has monthly meetings/training. Our ambulance squad members work hard to recruit new members. We visit the Lidgerwood public school at least once a year to give talks to various age groups and to give “tours” of the ambulance. We talk to the younger grades on subjects such as bicycle safety, how to call 911, farm safety, hot weather emergencies, cold weather emergencies. The tours of the ambulance show the kids what the inside of an ambulance is like and hopefully they won’t be so scared of the ambulance. One of our squad members is certified to teach CPR and first aid. These classes are offered to the public for anyone wishing to learn the lifesaving technique of CPR, as well as First Aid basics.
In May 2004 for EMS Week, we staged a “mock accident” for grades 4-12 which involved drinking and driving. The students were able to see what an accident can look like when we arrive at a scene and what we do to render care to the accident victims. Our service was featured in the 2004 fall-winter issue of Response Time magazine (the North Dakota EMS Newsletter) for the “mock” accident that we staged. Through these sessions at the school we hope to recruit members for the future. The following are picture of the “mock” accident:
Lidgerwood Rural Ambulance Service District |
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