DURANT, Iowa — The Durant Ambulance Service may have to stop offering transportation services if it can't find more volunteers.
The service covers Durant, Walcott, the I-80 Truck Stop and rural communities in Cedar, Scott and Muscatine counties. It's one of hundreds of EMS services in Iowa run by volunteers; more than 60% rely entirely on those volunteers.
At the same time, the number of EMTs and paramedics in the state has been decreasing. According to the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, there are 1.7% fewer EMS clinicians than in 2021.
Durant Ambulance has 15 total volunteers—five paramedics, four EMTs and six drivers. Those volunteers take on more than 500 calls a year, stretching the rural service to its breaking point.
Dan Sterner is chairman of the board for Durant Ambulance. He said the last few years have been hard, as older volunteers retire or are injured, and people move away.
"We’ve lost more members than we’ve brought on, and it’s getting to the point where we cannot cover the 911 calls that we’re requested to be covered," Sterner said.
When city and county contracts come up for renewal at the end of June, Sterner said the service can't keep providing transportation without new volunteers.
While Durant Ambulance wouldn't shut down, it would stop transporting people. It would provide basic first responder service, such as CPR, but patients would have to wait for a different service to take them to the hospital.
"Every minute that goes by without any basic life support, your chances of surviving cardiac arrest go down by 10%," Sterner said. "Minutes matter, and so if you're waiting for an ambulance to come from a nearby town, those are very valuable minutes that you're losing out on."
So, he's turning to the city, where he's also on the city council. If the city takes over the service, more volunteers could be incentivized by government benefits. But he said the city would be lucky to break even.
"I think collectively we're going to have to get a committee together, and ultimately decide, 'Does it make sense for the city of Durant?" Sterner said.
During the Monday night city council meeting, Durant's city clerk said she would head that committee. But ideally, Sterner wants more people to apply to Durant Ambulance.
"Maybe it gets to the point where, I hope we get 10 applications and we don't have to ask the city for help," Sterner said.
Sterner said there's been more interest in volunteering since he made a post on Facebook about the service's need.
If you want to become an EMT or paramedic for Durant, the service will pay for your certification. The next EMT classes are in January, and new volunteers would be certified by May. To sign up, call Durant Ambulance at (563) 785-4540.