Paramedics Plus, the ambulance service provider for the City of Sioux Falls, has opened a new facility in Harrisburg.
It’s designed to meet the growing demand of emergency calls in Harrisburg, Tea and the south side of Sioux Falls. In the past, emergency calls in Harrisburg and Tea have always been answered by a Sioux Falls ambulance. “What this is going to do is put a resource in between both instead of a resource coming into that area from Sioux Falls,” Paramedics Plus Chief Operating Officer Michael Bureau said.
The new facility is located right off Interstate 29, just four miles from both Harrisburg and Tea. “It’s going to be a lot quicker service, I’m sure of that,” Harrisburg resident Ken Fickbohm said. “Its response time, having quality people that can get to you as quickly as possible, because time is lives,” Lincoln County Commissioner Micahel Poppens said. “Already being here for the patients, it’s going to cut off eight, to ten or even 15 minutes,” Bureau said.
The new Paramedics Plus facility was built to house six paramedics and EMTs who will live there during 24-hour shifts.
“It’s a great opportunity to provide service to the people of northern Lincoln County,” Commissioner Poppens said. Paramedics Plus says the new base will especially cut down response times for lower priority calls. “Especially those calls that are non-emergency that start in Harrisburg and Tea that can be a bit of a wait,” Bureau said.
“We have a growing community, we have a lot of young families and we’re all looking at the news these days and seeing cases of the flu and response times that we need to get to people as quickly as possible,” Commissioner Poppens said. Paramedics Plus says this new base will also improve response times to the south side of Sioux Falls as well as emergency calls along Interstate 29.
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