04/11/2026
Unfortunately there are a lot of services in this state that are going through the same thing. There are problems not only locally in our state, but nation wide.
It is not a far fetched idea that someday, in some parts of our state, that when you call 911 help might be hours not minutes away.
How does an Ambulance go out of service?
“How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked. “Two Ways,” Mike said. “Gradually, and then suddenly.”
-Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises
How does an ambulance go out of service? It's a silly question, right? “Ambulances can't go out of service!” you say. “There has to be some sort of law preventing that? What are people supposed to do if there’s an emergency? You dial 911 and an ambulance shows up to save you! That's how it works!” It is correct that this is how it HAS worked up until this point. But the inconvenient reality is that ambulances DO go out of service. And the hard truth is that more of them probably will, and sooner than most people realize.
The Lemmon EMT Association is at a crossroads with two paths. One path leads to familiarity; well traveled with the occasional pot hole, but mapped out and navigable. The other is the road less traveled by, and is obscured by fog; possibly leading directly to a cliff.
To speak plainly, the unpoetic situation is that the Lemmon Ambulance is dealing with a severe staffing shortage. This may come as a shock to some, but to others it may just sound like another Friday. You can insert the regular responses:
“Everywhere is having staffing shortages. Deal with it.”
“LEMTA has been in this situation before and everything ended up working out just fine.”
“It is what it is, and things will work themselves out. They always do.”
“There isn’t anything I can do about it.”
“I can’t run on the ambulance, but I will do whatever else I can to help.”
“Thoughts and prayers.”
Those are reasonable responses. That being said, the people of Lemmon and the surrounding area will have to think long and hard to make some very difficult decisions in the near future as to whether or not they want to continue to be covered by a 24/7/365 locally based ambulance service. The bottom line is that the ambulance needs people, full stop. Money is an undeniably great resource. But it is only paper if we cannot convert that money into people. Money doesn't drive the ambulance or treat patients, people do. Well wishing, awareness raising, and vocally supporting feel good to do, but are ultimately empty gestures unless paired with actions.
There are as many (or possibly more) reasons as there are people to say them as to why they cannot serve on an ambulance. The greatest hits include: work responsibilities, family commitments, health limitations, lack of interest, lack of skills, lack of certifications, too old, too young, too busy, too scary, doesn’t pay enough, don’t live in town, etc. All perfectly legitimate reasons that everybody (even the people who already serve on the ambulance) have to deal with.
So given all this, what do the two pathways look like? The familiar path is easier. We get enough volunteers and/or staff to fill in the gaps to substitute and ultimately replace the current members as they retire or decide to walk away. This way is business as usual. The other path is trickier and, unless there is a new influx of members, this is the path LEMTA is currently on. There are a lot of possible permutations as to how this path travels, including a complete revamping or re-build of the LEMTA. But just advancing the current trendline, the following is the most likely sequence of events, split into 3 phases.
Phase 1: We have to deal with it…but let’s do it tomorrow.
The Lemmon Ambulance will intermittently and temporarily go out of service. This means that day to day, or even hour to hour, the Lemmon community may or may not be covered by the local ambulance service. If the Lemmon ambulance is not in service and there is an emergency, one of the neighboring available ambulance services will have to pick up our slack. If this becomes more than temporary or intermittent, the LEMTA license will be put in jeopardy, and we will be forced to advance into phase 2.
Phase 2: Gradually
The Lemmon ambulance converts to an en masse response framework. Currently the LEMTA maintains a 24/7 call schedule, meaning that individuals sign up and legally commit to responding to a 911 emergency. The state of South Dakota does not require this, and we could use a response framework like the fire department: personnel respond only IF and WHEN they are available to. This system is used by many rural ambulances in South Dakota. One tradeoff of this system is that at any given time, it is unknown as to whether or not there is an available crew to staff the ambulance. Another tradeoff is that LEMTA would be forced to drop its existing North Dakota coverage area, as this en masse response system is not legal in the state of North Dakota. The North Dakota coverage area would be permanently transferred onto the nearest North Dakota based services. If this proves to be untenable, then we would advance to the final phase.
Phase 3. Then Suddenly
Total closure. This would mark the end of the LEMTA as a service. The licenses would expire and the Lemmon community would no longer have a local ambulance service.
If the LEMTA goes away, what happens to Lemmon? Does everything screech to a halt? No. Initially, the average Lemmonite would probably not see any change to their day to day lives. But what happens long term? Are new people going to move to Lemmon? Are young people going to move back with their families? What happens to the retired people? The nursing home? Neighboring ambulances? How will this affect businesses, or property values?
So how does an ambulance go out of service? Two ways. 1) People assume there is nothing they can do about it, hope and pray that someone else will handle it, and the problem will gradually go away. Then they wake up one day and the ambulance is suddenly gone. The Lemmon EMT Association is currently on the gradual part, ever approaching the suddenly.
For an application to work with the Lemmon EMT Association, or for information involving EVOC certifications, upcoming EMT classes, or anything else concerning the Lemmon Ambulance service, feel free to contact any of the following:
Brad Derschan: 701-928-0795
Ethan Thom: 701-928-0153
Lou Ann Bubbers: 701-426-2340
Mike Wells: 701-928-0285
