Three Forks Ambulance Community Update
Author: Barbara Mutter, Three Forks Ambulance Service
Three Forks Ambulance
Barbara Mutter
Three Forks Ambulance Service
There seems to be some confusion in the Community on how our Three Forks Area Ambulance operates. I hope to clear up some misgivings.
TFAA is a 501c3 Non- Profit Business. We are a standalone service separate from any other agency.
We are run by a Board of Directors and have an all-volunteer staff of EMTs, EMRs and Drivers. These folks are like all of you reading this article!
They have, however, stepped up to take a 120-hour EMT Course and continue training and CE hours to maintain their license to serve our community in the event of an emergency!
Our Drivers are all mandated to take a state-certified course in Traffic Incident Management, along with an in-house instructor for ambulance protocols.
These folks leave family gatherings, and holidays, and get out of bed in the middle of the night to respond to emergencies. Our staff has regular jobs, homes and families to raise just like all of you.
We are fortunate to have several pre-med students out of Bozeman to serve our community. These folks live in Bozeman and come out and spend hours doing stand-by at our station. These EMTs need to respond with a senior EMT on the service.
Our Service Area consists of all WCFD Rural Service Area, the City of Three Forks and the TFFD Rural Fire District, which includes ½ of Logan, South Broadwater County, and down the Madison to Greycliff. Over 500 square miles!!
TFAA does not receive ANY PROPERTY TAX FUNDS. We are funded exclusively through grants, insurance billing (if we transport a patient to the hospital and they have insurance) and donations.
Last year (2023) we did a total of 304 emergency calls.
Right now (August 6) we have reached 212 emergency calls.
Over the past years, we have had a revolving door of volunteers. This is NOT an unusual occurrence in Fire Departments or Ambulance Services across the country. Volunteerism is at an all-time low all over the country. Many folks join and move on once they get some experience with paid services or move toward medical school. We here at TFAA understand this and welcome these folks to serve our community while we have them!
Last month, in July, we had 53 emergency calls, and we responded to 90.5% of the calls. AMR had to back us up on 5 calls. We had 3 Senior EMTs down with their own medical issues. Even though we were short-staffed TFAA did an amazing job of responding to our community needs.
There are times when our staff cannot make a call. We would hope the community would like to see us make over 90% of the calls for faster care and transport than what AMR can do responding from Bozeman. TFAA has a great working relationship with AMR, but the bottom line is “the faster the medical intervention the better the patients' overall medical outcome will be”. AMR out of Bozeman can take up to 1 hour to get out to an emergency here in Three Forks.
TFAA had to back up AMR in Belgrade one night last month due to their being short-staffed and could not meet all their emergency calls.
There are many new folks moving out here to the greater Three Forks Area. I have been asked why we do not have a hospital. My answer is “This has been historically a very rural community and now the growth is overwhelming, we do the best we can”.
53 Calls for July 2024
17 - transports to Bozeman Deaconess Hospital ER.
4 - of these with a paramedic (for pain management) from AMR in Bozeman.
12 - refusals / These from mostly motor vehicle accidents and traumatic injuries.
3 - medical alarms/ welfare checks.
1 - structure fire to back up TFVFD.
4 - AMR out of Bozeman transported a patient to BDH when we had no available staff.
1 - AMR responded with no transport of a patient. A refusal.
2 - responding to Country Jam with no transport to the hospital.
2- Hazard calls
7- canceled by FD or Law Enforcement prior to arrival at the scene.
1 - Dead on arrival (2 patients)
TFAA also supported Three Forks Rodeo during slack (Friday morning), and Friday and Saturday night Rodeos. We had all our staff available for the town, the rodeo contestants and several rodeo goers that needed medical attention.
Training for July consisted of Traffic Incident Management Training and setting up a mock accident on Highway 2. This training will give our crew the experience of how dangerous it is to work an accident scene on the interstate with cars going by and not slowing down. We want everyone to go home safely at the end of the day.
TFAA just completed an EMT Course here at our station and we hope to gain 6 more active folks to our crew!! We are so proud of all the hard work and commitment they have made to become an EMT!
I hope this article helps people understand our Service better and Our Commitment to this community!
If you would like to join our TEAM, Reach out at 3fkamb@gmail.com.
