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Oscoda County Ambulance Service Brief History
The Oscoda County Ambulance service came into being around 1960 when three local men, Joe Larrison, Gloyd Money, and Paul Starry decided to start a service to help the community when emergencies arose. Joe Larrison owned Larrison's Funeral Home and the hearse was used as the first ambulance in the county. It was a true family affair back then as all members of the family helped with the operation of the Ambulance Service.
The ambulance service was run by the Larrison's until 1973, at this time the Ambulance service was turned over to the Sheriffs Department. Jack Kann and Donnie Smith were instrumental in running the service and the ambulance rigs were staffed mostly by Deputy Sheriffs. Jim Neff (former Sheriff) also ran and helped staff the ambulance.
The service continued to be operated by the Sheriff's Department until 1989 when its first Director was hired. Sally Galbraith became the first part-time director of the ambulance. The ambulance department then became known as "The Oscoda County Ambulance Service"(OCAS). During this time Medical Control was being established and the service had around 20 volunteers, serving as drivers and EMT's. They had one ambulance stationed in Mio and one in Fairview.
In 1990, OCAS obtained two hand held radios on the Sheriff's frequency. All dispatch was done over the phone. OCAS responded to 435 runs that year.
Om 1991 there were 459 requests for an ambulance. OCAS continuously up-graded new equipment as funds became available. In 1992 a millage for ambulance radios and equipment was passed. The 1989 ambulances were paid off and a computer system was installed to assist in billing. The Citizens Ambulance Advisory Board was also instituted in 1991. The Citizens Ambulance Advisory Board assists the Ambulance Director to help promote the Ambulance Service to the community.
In 1993 OCAS purchased two new ambulances one for Fairview and one for Mio giving each station a total of two ambulances. They were then able to purchase and issue hand held radios for local Emergency Medical Technicians. This allowed faster response time and better communication with the dispatcher. Millage expired and was not renewed and we continued to use this funding until 2004.
In 1995 the first Automated External Defibrillator (AED) was placed in the ambulances. An AED is a device that can be used to shock someone whose heart has gone into a disrhythmia. OCAS responded to 631 runs in 1995.
In 1996 there were 605 runs.
In 1997 a new garage was built at the Sheriff's office to house the ambulances, this was built with milllage money. (Approx. $25,000.00) There were 615 runs.
In 1998 there were 656 runs.
In 2000 a new Ambulance Building was built by the County using funds recovered from a lawsuit at the landfill along with some Ambulances funds. There were 791 runs that year.
In 2001 the Ambulance Service hired 2 full time EMT's - 36 hours per week with full health benefits. The remaining 12 hour shifts were staffed with part time employees. OCAS is staffed 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Call-in personnel are still utilized for additional and multiple patient runs. OCAS received ATV grants and purchased an ATV for retrieving patients from trails and limited space areas. There were 791 runs in 2001.
In 2002 the state started inspecting the ambulance service and all ambulances. County Board of Commissioners made the Ambulance Director a part time salaried position. First operation millage was approved by voters this year and we responded to 780 runs.
In 2003 we began up-grading ambulance radios to meet new state requirements (MEDCOM). This was the first year we started using Accumed as our billing service. There were 855 runs.
In 2004 we kept the chassis of the ambulances and had a new box built for them. This is called remounts. Remounting saves money and the service is able to get an almost new ambulance for half the cost. There were 818 runs.
In 2005 the cell phones were updated to the new digital service. We began the process of upgrading to a new computer system for managing patient care records to meet new State of Michigan requirements for record sharing via the Internet, however due to numerous, unforseen problems, the state delayed implementation of the program. There were 867 runs.
In 2006 Oscoda County Ambulance Service contracted with Tri-Township Ambulance Service from Atlanta, Michigan to supply Oscoda County with Advanced Life Support (or ALS) for the whole county 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Previously North Flight, MMR, and Ogemaw County would respond from their county and intercept with OCAS causing for delayed care.
In 2008 Oscoda County hired a new ambulance director, Casey Pullum who attended Bob Jones University and obtained his Bachelors Degree in Administrative Management. Casey is also a paramedic and has been involved in EMS for 10 years. We responded to 951 calls in 2008.
In 2009 Oscoda County Ambulance Service obtained approval from the State of Michigan to provide it's own ALS service - separate from Tri-Township - saving the county nearly $40,000.00 annually. Two full-time paramedics were hired (Todd Klann & Chandra Ryba) to work 36 hours per week and the remainder of the hours were filled in with part time paramedics. OCAS staffed paramedics 24/7 for the first time in 2009. Many lives have been saved since beginning ALS in the county in 2006. OCAS purchased a 2009 GMC C-4500 Medium Duty chassis ambulance from Road Rescue.
Oscoda County Ambulance Service has supplied Oscoda County residents with first class ambulance service since 1960, doing this with little or no cost to the taxpayers. The ambulance service has been a Basic Life Support service (or BLS) for many years. A BLS service can be defined as a specific level of pre-hospital care provided by trained responders including emergency medical technicians, in the absence of advanced medical care. BLS consists of a number of life-saving techniques which are focused on the "ABC"s of pre-hospital emergency care:
• Airway: the protection and maintenance of patient airway including the use of airway adjuncts such as an oral or nasal airway.
• Breathing: the actual flow of air through respiration, natural or artificial respiration, often assisted by emergency oxygen.
• Circulation: the movement of blood through the beating of the heart or the emergency measure of CPR.
BLS may also include considerations of patient transport such as the protection of the cervical spine and avoiding additional injuries through splinting and immobilization.
Oscoda County Ambulance Service has been striving to supply Advance Life Support (or ALS) to the residents of Oscoda County. ALS is medical care provided by paramedics trained to assess a patient's condition, administer medications, defibrillate and provide advanced airway management prior to transportation to the hospital.
This has been an overview of the history and progress that our EMS service has made over the years. The motivation behind all these changes is to better serve our residents. Our goal is to provide Oscoda County with the best EMS care possible and with your on-going support we will continue to make it even better. Thank you for helping us to help you!
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