Decreasing Number of Emergency Volunteers in Rural Iowa

(Shenandoah, IA) — Iowa’s rural communities are losing emergency service volunteers and more and more small towns are relying on bigger hospitals farther away. Shenandoah Medical Center C-E-O, Matt Sells, says that translates to longer response times. He says the average person believes that when they call 9-1-1 an E-M-S service is going to respond — and there is no guarantee that will happen. The lack of rural services has a domino effect on larger cities, according to West Des Moines assistant chief of emergency services Dave Edgar. He says the more communities rely on larger facilities, the bigger strain those ambulance services feel.