A place to call home for Riverdale EMS
By Suzanne Werre
Editor
The Riverdale Ambulance is not only not losing its ambulance bay in Riverdale in favor of adding another fire truck, the Riverdale Ambulance Department is bringing in a 28 x 40-foot modular home, which will be a home-away-from-home for visiting paramedics and EMTs. The home will be located in back of the current ambulance/fire hall.
They won’t be just visiting, though, they’re being brought in to help fill in the gaps left by a lack of volunteers.
It’s an issue that many volunteer departments are dealing with throughout the state.
"It’s just kind of the nature of society now," commented Riverdale Ambulance Service President Steve Robinson. "There’s not the same motivation that our generation had to serve and to do things for the community, and we just can’t seem to get the number of young people that want to become involved. And by young people, I mean being under 35."
With the implementation of this new program, paramedics and EMTs from other surrounding areas will be able to be housed in the on-site house, enabling them to be on call 10 hours a day during the week, as well as for 48-hour shifts on the weekends starting at 6 p.m., Friday. Robinson says the department is aiming to run this program initially for 40 weeks.
