At left: FHBC and Caribou County Idaho Emergencey Services staff; right: FHBC with Bannock County officials on January 11.
By ROSELYNN YAZZIE
Sho-Ban News
FORT HALL — On Friday, January 11 the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes were gifted two ambulances from Caribou County, Idaho Emergency Services and Public Safety and the Bannock County’s Pocatello Fire Department.
The Fort Hall Business Council met with officials to accept the vehicles.
Caribou County gave a 2005 Ford F350 ambulance as part of the FY 2019 Idaho State EMS dedicated grant award.
Eric Hobson, Caribou County Public Safety Director, explained they were lucky enough to receive a grant ambulance from the state of Idaho to update their fleet. They had the extra ambulance and usually find when they try to auction them they don’t get a lot of money or they get parted out and don’t serve their purpose. So they took an opportunity to pay it forward and gift their extra ambulance.
They got a hold of Interim Fort Hall Fire Chief Eric King who identified they did have a need for it.
“For us it gave us the perfect opportunity to pass it forward to someone else that could use it and keep it going on there and still providing services as an ambulance,” said Hobson.
The Bannock County Ambulance District gave a 1999 ambulance for use in its fleet.
According to a press release, the Fort Hall Fire & EMS Department has three ambulances, two of which are primary units and the other is a reserve. They responded to 1,400 emergency medical incidents last year. In addition to 300 fire, rescue and hazardous material incidents.
The Bannock County donation was part of the Idaho Emergency Medical Services Equipment Grant, which provides helpful funding to replace ambulances throughout Idaho.
Pursuant to the execution of the grant once awarded, the receiving agency can no longer license the vehicle as an ambulance once replaced. This calls for the ambulance to be repurposed, donated to another agency or otherwise be disposed of.
Since Bannock County determined the ambulance still had some life left to it they decided to donate it to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes because of their partnership.
Bannock County Commissioner Terrel Tovey said there were a lot of issues for ambulances all over the state of Idaho and it’s a critical thing to have medical transport.
“For us to be able to have an ambulance that comes out of this fleet and still stays and helps service the county on the north end, it is awesome,” he said.
Travis Smith from the Bannock County Ambulance District said the ambulance they’re donating served them well and they are thankful they are able to work collaboratively with the Fort Hall Fire Department.
Fort Hall Business Council (FHBC) Vice Chairman Ladd Edmo thanked Commissioner Tovey and said they talked about several things in bringing the communities together.
“I think something like this reaches deeper into our region that we can all benefit from working together and sharing our resources and this is one way to show that and I appreciate that,” said Edmo.
FHBC Chairman Small said the ambulance is not just for the tribal people but also for everyone to help save lives. He expressed his appreciation for the ambulance.