CARBON COUNTY — One year after Carbon County voters overwhelmingly approved a $1.1 million levy for emergency and ambulance services, rural ambulance services are now thriving thanks to critical staffing, equipment upgrades, and community support.
Watch to see how a $1.1 million mill levy has helped improve EMS in Carbon County:
Every second counts in making the difference between life and death. It's something the three Carbon County volunteer-driven emergency medical services (EMS) agencies—Red Lodge Fire Rescue, Clarks Fork Valley Ambulance and Joliet EMS—know very well when faced with the urgent challenge of making sure help arrives in time, despite long distances and limited resources.
“Even though we're three different services, we're like one big family," said Robin Harper, service manager for Joliet EMS, which covers the rural community with just two ambulances and 24 volunteers.
Red Lodge, on average, sees 600 calls for services a year, with Clarks Fork Valley and Joliet receiving fewer than 200 each. Each department has relied on the other for calls if backup is needed, but that could often put a strain on limited staffing numbers.
That problem united Harper, Torsten Prahl, the assistant chief of Red Lodge Fire Rescue, and Roger Steffan, paramedic and service director of Clarks Fork Valley Ambulance, in their campaign to secure new funding last year.
“Twelve people trying to cover 24/7, 365 (days), that's a lot of call shifts that are available to be covered," said Steffan.
The three banded together to solve the crisis of unanswered calls, volunteer burnout, and high costs of living that have prevented new volunteers from joining.
“It was scary," said Harper. "We were having trouble covering a lot of our calls ... We needed to do something, but we didn't have the money to hire anybody, to pay staff."
Their solution was an over $1.1 million mill levy that would be distributed to the three services based on population, call volume, and service size. To their surprise, it passed in June of 2024 with an overwhelming 70 percent approval. Now, the impact of the levy has been tremendous over 12 months later.
“One year later, we have a success story,” said Prahl. "We're really happy with the results.”
Related: Carbon County bucks trend, passes levy to fund emergency services
Red Lodge Fire Rescue has seen a near elimination of missed service calls. The department, which staffs three full-time paramedics alongside 45 to 50 volunteers, was also able to update aging equipment and vehicles.
“Our numbers have improved significantly. The number of calls that we were not able to answer have almost gone to zero," said Prahl.
Calls from other departments have also decreased and helped lighten the load.
"It's just made a world of difference. Very seldom does Red Lodge ever have to cover our calls,” said Harper.
Joliet EMS used its share of the funds to hire two full-time staff from within its volunteer ranks. The additions have resulted in faster response times in what Harper calls “a game changer” for community care.
“It just took a burden off financially, and we've just been able to really improve things. And it's really helped with morale, too," said Harper.
Joliet EMS is also saving a portion of the funding to one day expand its building, such as adding sleeping quarters and increasing meeting and training rooms.
Clarks Fork Valley Ambulance, which covers Bridger, Fromberg, and Belfry with just 12 volunteers, is focused on long-term sustainability to help increase the number of volunteers. The department is using levy funds to offer full scholarships, nearly $1,000, for new EMT students and stipends for volunteers who sign up on-call.
"It's a fairly big incentive, I think, to get people in," said Steffan. "It's not a quick fix that we would hope for, but over the course of a year or two, I believe we will build that base up to where we have a sustainable number of volunteers.”
The county has also formed an EMS oversight board to review how money is distributed and make adjustments as needed if challenges arise.
For these responders, EMS is more than a job. For Harper, it is a calling she found in a grocery store flier that asked, “Do you want to serve your community?” Now, 26 years later as a volunteer, she has served and never looked back. She and her husband, Terry, who is the president of the service, both plan to retire in a few years from Joliet EMS after decades of service. They say they are proud of how far the service has come and the help they have been able to give.
“It's just been a wonderful, wonderful experience, a way to serve the community," said Harper. "It doesn't mean it's all fun. It's not. We see a lot of sad stuff. We've had to deal with a lot of really sad stuff and whatever, but at least we were there to help out.”
"I think you have to like it or you're not going to do it. You're certainly not going to do it for 25, 35 years like this group has," added Steffan.
The levy has not only helped improve these responders' numbers, but also their passion for serving others. The progress is the beginning, as they continue the work they love in the community that needs them.
“The voters supported us, and it's just a good, happy story with a happy ending," said Prahl.
"It takes a special person to do this, and I'm very proud of our organization," added Harper. "I think it just is going to get better and better from here on out.”
