Elmore City EMS set to receive two ambulances and new station with USDA rural healthcare grants

ELMORE CITY, Okla. (KXII) - A pair of USDA grants designed to help healthcare in rural areas are providing new resources to local first responders in Southern Oklahoma.

Elmore City EMS received two USDA rural healthcare grants which will help them purchase two new ambulances, including a new EMS station set to be built by 2025.

“We’ve got a 2003 ambulance that’s pretty worn out, needed to be replaced a long time ago,” said Elmore City EMS director Jason Cook. “Then the one right behind me is a 2010 that we got with another grant, and once we get our new trucks this ones gonna go as a third truck so we will always have at least two trucks in service at all times.”

The new station will bring three new bays, additional working space for paramedics and a fully purposed training room.

“This is going to allow us to grow as a service, more space for our people, we’ll be able to have four bedrooms so later down the road we’ll be able to run two crews at one time,” Cook stated.

Cook says once they move into their new home, the old station will be repurposed to feed the community’s needs, “In that grant, were going to convert it into a food bank, so its a much needed service for our community and I think that it will be used a lot.”

Cook also says these grants will help them respond to patients calls when every second counts, “It helps us operate and to be able to grow and stay in service, because there’s a lot of services around us right now that are struggling and I feel like with these grants we are really thriving now, and we got a bright future to look forward to.”

Copyright 2023 KXII. All rights reserved.