Like many small communities, the ambulance service in Fossil is at a critical juncture, as aging volunteer crews retire and new volunteers are hard to find.
We are lucky to live in such a beautiful, remote, and quiet area away from the problems of the city. Living here has many advantages but also some disadvantages; one being medical care.
We have been fortunate to have dedicated volunteers to run our ambulance, but those volunteers can only do so much. For reasons cited as burnout and lack of back up, our only two active EMTs resigned effective July 31, 2024. That leaves us with no ambulance service after that date.
This is a crisis for our community. The city and the ambulance board have been actively seeking volunteers who would train to be EMTs, but we haven't been successful.
Training is expensive, takes about a year to complete, and requires an unimaginable amount of dedication to serve. In small, remote communities such as ours, volunteers are what keep us viable.
If you are interested in being an EMT, please contact city hall for information on how to begin that training. In the meantime, we are seeking out alternative solutions to provide emergency care in our community. We must all work together to make this happen. Our community deserves nothing less.
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