Ambulance Garage

West River Ambulance

Since its inception in 1944, West River Ambulance Service has been an innovator in rural emergency medicine.  Our volunteers were the first in North Dakota to receive formalized training back in 1968.  In 1987, West River was the first volunteer service in the state to employ a full time paramedic and thus provide Advanced Life Support to the area.  Currently we are an Advanced Life Support service licensed in both North and South Dakota.

 We are a unique hospital-based volunteer service, with an average 265 calls per year. Our service area is considered "Frontier" and covers 2,500 square miles and several counties. Several First Responders are scattered throughout our service area providing quicker access to care. The majority of our service area is covered by 911 dispatches in either North or South Dakota, In addition to local responses; we frequently transport patients to Bismarck and Rapid City hospitals for advanced medical care or advanced procedures not available at West River Regional Medical Center, such as cardiac catheterization or high-risk obstetric patients.  We have, however, traveled as far as Watertown, S.D., Billings, MT, and Minneapolis and Rochester, MN.

At present, we have one full time paramedic, four part time paramedics, four EMT-I's, 14 EMT-B's, two North Dakota First Responders, and three CPR-certified drivers, all of whom are enrolled in either an EMT-B or First Responder course.  Within that multi-talented group, four are certified CPR instructors, seven are advanced cardiac life support personnel, and one is an EMS instructor/coordinator.  Our staff and volunteers bring to the table a combined total of 242 years dedicated to emergency medical services!

In addition to providing outstanding emergency medical care to our communities, we are proud to offer public and private First Aid and CPR classes (approximately 400 individuals have taken CPR in the past 10 months alone), First Responder, EMT Basic, and Paramedic classes, as well as Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Pediatric Advanced Life Support classes. 

Further emphasizing our commitment to community health and safety, WRAS holds many events throughout the year which are free to the public.  Shelly's Safety Day has become a favorite among 4- to 8-year-old children and their parents, covering such topics as bicycle safety, water safety, fire safety, stranger danger, and poisoning, to name just a few.  We also hold several car seat safety checks throughout the year to help keep even the tiniest members of our community safe!

West River Ambulance Service and its members hold a long list of awards both past and present, including three North Dakota EMT of the Year recipients, two NDEMA Instructor/Coordinator awards, Outstanding Rural Health Volunteer, NDEMA's southwest region Driver of the Year, two Squad of the Year awards, Southwest Squad of the Year, Media Award, ALS Provider of the Year, SW Siren Award, 2007 Friend of Medicine, and one Star of Life recipient.

Our volunteers reflect the spirit of southwest North Dakota with sincere pride, professionalism, and a"git er' done" attitude. They are a dedicated crossection representing business, agriculture, education and healthcare. Many of our members are long time volunteers with five, ten, twenty years and more of caring for friends and neighbors in their hour of need. Our commitment to a five minute call-to-enroute time speaks to the sacrifices family members of these providers have made as well. As the wife of a crew member stated recently, "We truly take care of each other out here."