100 erie main. zblac . reporter: this is an ems true in a small mining town of the middle of nevada. there s no professional ambulance service here. it s only hospital closed its doors for good in 2015. medic 11 on scene. reporter: local residents have taken matters into their own hands. don goodmanson is one of several volunteer emts who act as the community s only lifeline. it s scary. it s scary to live here. i m scared for residents, i m scared for my family. reporter: when the hospital closed, the entire county, an area roughly the size of the u.s. state of massachusetts was left without any emergency medical care. any area that s more than 30 miles away from a hospital is known as a hospital desert.
only hospital closed its doors for good in 2015. medical evans on scene. reporter: local residents have taken matters into therapy own hands. dawn good manson is one of several volunteer emts who act as the community s only lifeline. it s scary. it s scary to live here. i m scared for our residents, i m scared for my family. reporter: hen the hospital closed, the entire county, an area roughly the size of the u.s. state of massachusetts was left without any emergency medical care. any area that s more than 30 miles away from a hospital is known as a hospital desert. tonopa, more than 200 miles from emergency trauma care. if you need trauma care, you re looking at reno or las vegas which is 3 1/2 hours by vehicle. i know of some people that did not make it on the transport. they expired en route. my aunt, she had a lot of medical problems, and we weren t able to get her to higher level