Former Spearfish EMT and firefighter, Timothy White, was sentenced to decades in prison after he admitted to taking pornographic photos and video of a young child.
Viability of rural ambulance services in South Dakota at risk due to staffing and funding shortages
About a third of rural ambulance directors in South Dakota said they couldn’t respond to a call because of staffing shortages, according to a 2016 survey. Roughly a third more said response times were delayed due to lack of staffing.
Written By:
Danielle Ferguson / South Dakota News Watch | 12:49 pm, May 4, 2021 ×
Nicole Neugebauer, a former South Dakota EMT of the Year, is pictured with a Douglas County Ambulance in Armour. Neugebauer is the Armour ambulance director. (Caitlynn Peetz/Republic)
Rural ambulance services in South Dakota are having an increasingly hard time recruiting volunteers and generating revenues, putting the stability of the services at risk and making it more likely that rural residents will endure longer response times in emergencies or possibly lose ambulance service altogether.
Rural ambulance services see decline in volunteers, funding
Danielle Ferguson, South Dakjota News WatchMay 3, 2021News
Photo by Nichole NeugebauerSome rural ambulance services in South Dakota, including the Douglas County Ambulance Service in Armour, are healthy and functioning well despite ongoing challenges to maintain staffing and funding levels. Nicole Neugebauer, front right with hands clasped, is an officer in the South Dakota Ambulance Association who was named state EMT of the year in 2015.
SIOUX FALLS, SD – Rural ambulance services in South Dakota are having an increasingly hard time recruiting volunteers and generating revenues, putting the stability of the services at risk and making it more likely that rural residents will endure longer response times in emergencies or possibly lose ambulance service altogether.
Rural ambulance services in South Dakota are having an increasingly hard time recruiting volunteers and generating revenues, putting the stability of the services at risk and making it more likely that rural residents will endure longer response times in emergencies or possibly lose ambulance service altogether.
While most larger cities in South Dakota have professional ambulance services or fire departments with paid staff members, rural services rely mostly on volunteers. In recent years, those rural providers have seen fewer people willing to volunteer and those who do volunteer are older residents who are aging out of the workforce.
About a third of rural ambulance directors in South Dakota said they couldn’t respond to a call because of staffing shortages, according to a 2016 survey. Roughly a third more said response times were delayed due to lack of staffing.