There are three legs to the public safety stool; law enforcement, fire, and ambulance. When you call for help, they respond and they all do a great job. Each leg of the stool is organized differently.
Minnehaha County is lucky to have a steady hand in Sheriff Mike Milstead. Sioux Falls and Brandon have their own police forces but they also work closely with the Sheriff’s office. Outside of those two towns, the Sheriff and deputies patrol the County and contract with municipalities to provide police services.
Fire protection is a bit different as fourteen departments work to protect the County. Volunteer fire departments are funded by several revenue streams including a County fire levy, fire insurance premium dollars, municipal and township contributions, and local fundraising. The rural fire departments primarily rely on volunteers for staff. Many of those volunteers also work in their local community to protect their neighbors and families. We all owe them our thanks.
Ambulance service delivery is where it gets complicated. Two for-profit ambulances, Med Star and Paramedics Logistics, operate in Minnehaha County. While the County is not required to fund ambulances according to state law, the County does provide some funding to ambulance service delivery. Three fully volunteer providers serve most of the county; Humboldt, Dell Rapids, and Garretson. The Jasper, Minnesota ambulance also covers sixteen square miles in the northeast part of the county.
Our ambulance volunteers live on fundraisers, municipal and township contributions, and a small stipend from Minnehaha County. They often do not get paid for their calls and Medicare and Medicaid rates don’t cover the actual costs of the ambulance ride. Their volunteers are hard to recruit, train and keep. Most people have jobs and can’t respond. Vehicles wear out and need to be replaced. Imagine the difficulties raising $200,000 for a new vehicle in Garretson or Humboldt.
Volunteer ambulances are struggling all over South Dakota and some are going out of business. Volunteer recruitment is also becoming increasingly difficult. We need to support and keep them in Minnehaha County.
Our county works hard to support all three legs of the public stool. Your local community needs you. Please consider volunteering at your fire department or ambulance district if you have not done so already. Public safety needs everyone’s support.
