The Garretson Ambulance is there for you, so they need you to be there for them.
“First I want to clarify that we’re not in trouble, we’re doing all right, we just need to recruit some more volunteers,” said Ambulance Administrator Matt Penning. “We’ve got 15 people on our service rolls, but realistically we’ve got about 9 regulars who are constantly active."
“The problem we want to head off, is overtaxing our volunteer staffers,” said Garretson City Finance Officer and Ambulance Volunteer Anna Uhl. “With less than ten regulars, well it doesn’t make us comfortable when Matt makes up the duty roster. Most of us too, all have regular full time jobs. Then if you’re on call for the Ambulance, it’s one more thing you have to juggle.”
“You don’t want to put stress on your crew,” said Penning. “The job itself can be stressful, scheduling shouldn’t be. We draw up the plan a month in advance, and with only nine fully active members that can get difficult. Two people have to be on call, every hour of the day, every day of the year. And when you have retirements, a person moves or even when we have a death (like we had in the case of long time Ambulance supporter and volunteer Tom Lines), well it leaves a rift that’s not easy to fill.”
“What we want to avoid is back to back shifts for volunteers,” said Uhl. “Where Matt struggles the most to fill the schedule is overnights and weekends. Somebody taking a few twelve or even six hour shifts during those times would be a big help.”
“Having a bigger pool of volunteers for nights and weekends would be a huge help,” Penning said. “Garretson area or city residents who could help us would be greatly appreciated. We could really use some more folks who can get the job done after regular business hours.”
Responsibilities involved for volunteering for the ambulance are simple.
“All you need is a standard driver’s license and your EMT card,” Penning said. “The ambulance drives to any and all primary Patient Care facilities in the area, from Avera and Sanford in Sioux Falls, to anywhere else in the region.
“We just took a patient over to the Dell Rapids Hospital and I know we’ve delivered patients to Luverne, as well as the VA hospital,” said Uhl.
“I’d like about 25 people in our volunteer pool,” Penning said. “Ten to twelve more would really help, fifteen more would be ideal, but any new volunteers would be very welcome. If you’re interested, but you don’t have an EMT certification, we can fix that, as we can host an EMT Class here in Garretson at any time. We just need to put a list together of people who want to help and we can get a class going right away. So really, all you need is to be 18 or older and have a driver’s license. We can train you to do the rest.”
If you’re interested in serving your community through the Garretson Ambulance, contact Matt Penning at or call at 605-594-2043.
Photo: The Garretson Ambulance Crew wants you! They are looking for volunteers to strengthen their roster. This photo is from their annual Breakfast Fundraiser this past April. Pictured are: front row; Shay Henstra, Anna Uhl, Sharon Heesch, and Gail Nelson. Back row Administration Matt Penning, Liz Scharton, Mike Ebbing, Ryan Longhenry and Kurtis Nelson.
