Granville Volunteer Ambulance
I would like to nominate Granville ambulance for volunteer EMS
service of the year. Granville is a small town of just over 300
people located in northwest Iowa. Despite the small town, the
Granville Ambulance has been able to maintain a strong team of
EMS providers. Included on this team are 6 drivers, 5 First
Responders, 12 EMT, 1 AEMTs and 3 Paramedics. We provide 24/7
coverage, and cover nearly 60 square miles. We also offer
paramedic assist coverage to neighboring communities. Nearly 75%
of our calls are to help other services in surrounding
communities.
Granville Ambulance is also very involved in growing EMS.
Every other year Granville Ambulance hosts an EMT or EMR class
at the station. This class is taught by one of the two EMS
instructors on the department. Both instructors bring EMT
classes twice a year to departments that are struggling to find
providers for their communities. The team members also assist
with the classes by mentoring other members, teaching skills,
and helping with testing stations.
Granville Ambulance has a deep commitment to their community
and their patients. This team has saved lives that most would
say were impossible to save. Not only did this team save their
lives, but these people are now out living productive, normal
lives. I specifically remember 2 calls. The first was during the
super bowl. While everyone else was at home watching the game,
this team saved the life of a lady who was hemorrhaging from
both wrists and her neck. They not only had to control the
bleeding, but also get her out of the basement and drive over 20
minutes to the closest hospital. The second call was for a lady
who hit a truck pulling a disc in the dark. Her vehicle was so
mangled it was unrecognizable. She was unresponsive on arrival
and needed extrication. She had bilateral open femur fractures
along with countless other injuries. Both of these patients were
saved only because of the fast work and skills of Granville EMS.
We also recognize that our patients are more than just another
person we drove to the hospital. These people are our families,
our friends, and our neighbors. We want our patients to know
this is how we think of them, and that we are thankful to be
able to serve them, so we started sending every patient or their
family a card to let them know we are thinking of them.
Granville Ambulance is more than a group of EMS
professionals. They are a team, but more than that they are
family and friends. They welcome new people onto the team and
make them feel as of they have been here for years. This is more
than just an outward show. Instead after every meeting the team
will spend time together just catching up. But this doesn’t end
when we leave the station doors. This attitude of caring and
helping continues in our personal lives. Every member has been
seen helping the next when problems arise whether it be chasing
cattle, fixing a flat tire, answering questions about a medical
situation, going to someone’s home to check on them, or just
sending an encouraging text.
We recognize that we could never do what we do without this
amazing team of people, or the community which helps support us.
This team is a dedicated group of individuals who deserve to be
recognized for who they are and what they do.
