How does ambulance coverage actually work up here? (and how to help the fire dept)

A neighbor up on the hill told me last week about how long it took for help to get to their house when they called... I won't say who, and I'm not looking to point fingers at anybody. It just got me thinking that after all these years here I don't really know how it works...

As I understand it the county contracts with Medic One for the ambulance, and the fire department is volunteer. But the Bay sits across the Van Buren and Cleburne county line, so does which side of the line you're on change who gets sent? Where does the ambulance actually start from when the call comes in? And when it's a long way out, does the fire department get there first?

Back when we first moved here it was mostly the volunteers and everybody knew somebody on the crew. Things have changed a lot since then... more folks, more part-timers, a lot more people on the hill.

There's been plenty of heat about it on Facebook, but I'd rather hear from people who really know. Anybody on the department or who's worked with EMS, please chime in. And if somebody can say how to volunteer or donate to the fire department on Little Rock Drive, I'd like to do that too. I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering...

Thank you for starting this one, Cedric, and for keeping it respectful. I'd like to help it stay that way, so a gentle request to everyone: let's focus on how the system works and how we can support it, and leave out specific incidents, addresses, or names of neighbors or responders. That's how these things turn into the mess we've all seen on Facebook.

I'm not on the department and have never worked EMS, so I don't want to state anything as fact that I can't back up. I'd rather hear from someone who really knows where the ambulance is stationed and how the county line affects dispatch than guess. If you're on the crew, or have worked with Medic One, please jump in. Even a general explanation would help a lot of us.

What I can say for certain is the practical part. Whatever the answer on coverage, call 911 first, stay on the line, and give the dispatcher your street address and the nearest cross street. Up on the hill so many of the streets look alike, and GPS isn't always right. It also helps to make sure your house number is easy to read from the road, day or night.

As for volunteering or donating, the most reliable way is to call or stop by the station on Little Rock Drive and ask them directly. I'd rather you hear it from them than from me. If they ever want a fundraiser, I will happily haul the smoker out. A yard sale or a BBQ plate sale has raised money for worse causes.

Thanks, Amber, and fair point on keeping it to how the system works. I probably shouldn't have even mentioned the neighbor, but I didn't name anybody and I'll leave it there...

The house number thing is a good one. Mine is on the mailbox down at the road, but I doubt you could read it after dark from a moving vehicle. Going to put up something reflective this week. After 486 posts on here I should have thought of that before now.

I'll stop by the station on Little Rock Drive and ask them straight what they need, and I'll report back here so it's not just me who knows. Volunteers, money, or something else like a fundraiser.

And if they do want a fundraiser, I've got more folks' junk in my garage than I know what to do with. A yard sale and your smoker plates in the same weekend... that'd draw a crowd. Back in the early days that's exactly how a lot of things around here got paid for.

Still hoping someone from the crew or who's worked with Medic One will walk us through the county line part.

Reflective numbers are cheap, any hardware store has them. Put them on a post at the road and on the house too, since mailboxes get missed. I'd like to hear what the station says when you go by. Don't know the county line part either.

honestly the part nobody on facebook wants to say is that volunteer means volunteer. The folks with time to run a call at 2pm on a Tuesday are mostly retired, and the younger ones are driving to Heber or Clinton or Conway for work because theres not much up here to keep them home. So I'd guess daytime is the hard part. Thats a guess tho, not fact.

Cedric when you stop by the station ask them that. How many are actually active and what do they need most. Im betting its bodies and not just checks, and the training takes a while too. Everyone wants a fast truck, fewer want to give up Tuesday nights for class lol

Also yes to the reflective numbers, ill add put them somewhere above snow/ice height. Ive seen mailboxes buried after a good storm.

Morgan's right about the daytime part, at least from what I've seen. The folks with free weekdays are mostly my age, and a lot of us couldn't pass a physical or haul hose anymore. Doesn't mean we're no use though. I'd bet a department like that can use help with the stuff that isn't running the call: fundraising, upkeep on the building, paperwork, traffic. Cedric, when you stop by on Little Rock Drive, ask if there's a spot for people who can't do the full training.

Good tip on the numbers too. The plow buries my mailbox every winter, so I'd put reflective ones on a post set back from the road, on both sides so you can see it coming from either direction.

Wayne that's a good point about the non-fire jobs, I never thought about it that way. Most of what keeps a volunteer dept going probably isnt the running into the fire part. Its the paperwork and the building and somebody to run the fundraiser, and I bet they'd take a retired guy who can answer a phone over nobody.

On the numbers, one thing from living out on 330. The ditch mowers and the highway crews take out posts all the time, so set it back from the shoulder but still where you can see it from the road, and not down in the ditch where the grass hides it by August. Im not sure if the county hands out reflective address signs, might be worth asking when Cedric goes by the station, dont quote me on that.

Also if they do a fish fry or spaghetti supper I'd bet a couple of the restaurants around here would kick in food. Id show up for that, wont lie.

Still dont know the county line part either, would rather hear it from somebody who does than guess.

Morgan, I think you've got the daytime part right... When we first moved here a lot more folks worked right in the Bay, at the resort, the golf courses, the marina, the stores. So somebody was always around on a weekday. Now like you say they're driving to Heber or Clinton for work and the ones left at home are mostly my age. Not a knock on anybody, it's just how it shook out.

Wayne, I'll ask about a spot for the ones who can't haul hose. I can answer a phone and I can run a yard sale, and that's about the extent of my qualifications...

Gregory, good tip on setting the sign back from the shoulder. I've lost two mailbox posts to the mowers already. I'll ask about the reflective address signs too, no promises on what they say.

Planning to get by the station Friday morning. I'll ask about the county line and who they'd want help from, and I'll write back here with whatever I hear, even if the answer is "call this number."