KWWL.com
EVANSDALE, Iowa — The Evansdale Fire Department heads out to about 600 emergencies a year.
“With that call volume, we were finding ourselves, one in four, maybe one in five calls that we were not able to respond because we didn’t have staff,” said Kent Smock, Fire Chief. Instead, Smock says other agencies would have to respond to those calls. The 25 person volunteer fire department covers Evansdale, Raymond, and Gilbertville. Smock says it’s been getting more difficult to find EMTs to staff ambulances.
“Being able to balance between their regular jobs, their family life, and a high volume volunteer on call fire department it made staffing difficult at times,” said Smock. That’s why Smock found the need for the city to hire Jenny Sorensen. She is the city’s first full-time paramedic.
Full story: Evansdale hires first ever full-time paramedic