Grand Coulee looks to other towns for ambulance help

Gone are the days when the area was served by two volunteer ambulance services, one in Coulee Dam, one in Grand Coulee, which now is the only one left.

That’s getting to be a big job for the few volunteers left on the crew. And the city of Grand Coulee knows it’s picking up the whole tab.

Grand Coulee Councilmember Tom Poplawski told local mayors at their Regional Board of Mayors meeting last week that the city would like them to start thinking about helping out with a specific portion of the cost.

Every time an ambulance rolls out of the station, he said, it costs the city $250, whether a service is billable or not. If the crew gets to a call and finds that a person just needed help off the floor but not transport to a hospital, they don’t usually bill for that, Poplawski said.

Standing in for Mayor Paul Townsend, Poplawski told the mayors his council wanted him to bring up the ambulance service. The council is preparing for budgeting, and they’re looking at putting money in reserves for an eventual ambulance replacement.

The ambulance has already gone on over 400 calls this year, he said.

The mayors asked for specifics on the cost. Poplawski said he would return with statistics for them.