Letter to the Editor: Your Community Needs You

Are you an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) or would you like to become one? Could you drive an ambulance to help community residents when they are suffering and need help? We need YOU to volunteer with the Three Forks Area Ambulance Service (TFAAS) on a schedule that works around your other obligations.

The problem: TFAAS serves an area of about 500 square miles - the City of Three Forks, Willow Creek Rural Fire District and Three Forks Rural Fire Districts. When a resident or visitor calls 911 desperately needing help, their fastest help is local. But if TFAAS is understaffed, the only help is from a private ambulance company that must drive here from Bozeman causing injured and panicked citizen to have to wait sometimes up to an hour.

Unlike Fire Departments, our Ambulance Service does not receive funding from property taxes. TFAAS is a nonprofit and only funded when folks use their services. With more volunteers we could respond to more calls; funding would come to TFAAS instead of to the private ambulance service and our two ambulances could be fully staffed. Everyone, including your own family, would be safer and more confident that help would arrive fast when they need it most!

In addition to knowing you are making a difference in our area, TFAAS pays for your EMT license renewals, continuing education and CPR training. If you are seeking to become an EMT, we offer scholarship opportunities. Volunteers for TFAA also receive small monetary incentives.

With our growing population, the need for a local volunteer ambulance service is also increasing. TFAAS is a part of our community and provides standby service for local rodeos and other events.

We still need you even if you live outside of the Three Forks area! We currently have MSU medical students, people that live in Whitehall and other surrounding areas that are volunteering their time on set schedules based on their availability. You did not need to live in Three Forks to help.

YOU can help strengthen and improve TFAAS. You can make our community safer and help folks in their time of need. Please contact Barbara Mutter at TFAAS by emailing 3fkamb@gmail.com or by calling 406-209-3417 for more information as soon as possible.

From the Three Forks Area Ambulance