Rugby EMS receives $90,000 grant
The Rugby Emergency Medical Services unit received a $90,000 grant from the North Dakota Department of Health, which it will put toward a number of upgrades and programs.
The grant was through the North Dakota EMS Funding area grant program, established by the legislature three years ago, according to Ken Reed, EMS director at Heart of America Medical Center.
Part of the money will go toward the continuing effort to be prepared for cardiac emergencies, outfitting more law enforcement agents with Automatic External Defibrillators and making them accessible at some public places.
“The AED is a continuation of the program we started last year to ensure all of the law enforcement officers that service first responders carry one,” Reed said. “We’ve trained over 25 percent of the population in the past two years.”
The grant will also help fund some new equipment for the Wolford First Responder unit, which is within the Rugby EMS funding zone.
“They are the only life quick response unit in our funding area,” Reed said. “Part of the goal is to support all of the entities. There is some equipment that is antiquated and we’d like to get them some updated equipment for when they respond to emergencies.”
Rugby EMS also plans to use the money to purchase pain management equipment for use by newly trained Advanced EMTs, fund the services of a regional medical control physician and general staffing costs.
“We’re one of those services where we have to have a certain amount of coverage but we don’t have the run average to fund that,” Reed said. “The supplemental funds are to offset the staffing that we do.”
To receive the funds, Rugby EMS submitted a grant which was reviewed by an independent panel from the N.D. Department of Health.
“The grant application asks you to demonstrate the need both from the service and funding need standpoint,” Reed said. “You have to state what you’re actually going to use the funding for.”
Reed said there was around $3.6 million available from the grant program, and $7.5 million was requested by EMS services throughout the state.
This forced the Department of Health to cap the grants to individual funding areas to $100,000 each.
“There were no 100 percent funded so we were at the top of the heap,” Reed said. “It was a program created by the legislature, not this last session, but the previous session and they added money to it this biennium. We’re very appreciative to the legislature. We’re in an environment where local user fees alone can’t fund EMS needs.”
Rugby EMS receives $90,000 grant
The Rugby Emergency Medical Services unit received a $90,000 grant from the North Dakota Department of Health, which it will put toward a number of upgrades and programs.
The grant was through the North Dakota EMS Funding area grant program, established by the legislature three years ago, according to Ken Reed, EMS director at Heart of America Medical Center.
Part of the money will go toward the continuing effort to be prepared for cardiac emergencies, outfitting more law enforcement agents with Automatic External Defibrillators and making them accessible at some public places.
“The AED is a continuation of the program we started last year to ensure all of the law enforcement officers that service first responders carry one,” Reed said. “We’ve trained over 25 percent of the population in the past two years.”
The grant will also help fund some new equipment for the Wolford First Responder unit, which is within the Rugby EMS funding zone.
“They are the only life quick response unit in our funding area,” Reed said. “Part of the goal is to support all of the entities. There is some equipment that is antiquated and we’d like to get them some updated equipment for when they respond to emergencies.”
Rugby EMS also plans to use the money to purchase pain management equipment for use by newly trained Advanced EMTs, fund the services of a regional medical control physician and general staffing costs.
“We’re one of those services where we have to have a certain amount of coverage but we don’t have the run average to fund that,” Reed said. “The supplemental funds are to offset the staffing that we do.”
To receive the funds, Rugby EMS submitted a grant which was reviewed by an independent panel from the N.D. Department of Health.
“The grant application asks you to demonstrate the need both from the service and funding need standpoint,” Reed said. “You have to state what you’re actually going to use the funding for.”
Reed said there was around $3.6 million available from the grant program, and $7.5 million was requested by EMS services throughout the state.
This forced the Department of Health to cap the grants to individual funding areas to $100,000 each.
“There were no 100 percent funded so we were at the top of the heap,” Reed said. “It was a program created by the legislature, not this last session, but the previous session and they added money to it this biennium. We’re very appreciative to the legislature. We’re in an environment where local user fees alone can’t fund EMS needs.”
Local News
Send us your Christmas stories, photos
Do you have a Christmas story you would like to share with readers? It could be a story about a family Christmas ...
Ice plunge raises money for girls wrestling team
