Waukon State Bank donates to ambulance fund ...


Waukon State Bank donates to ambulance fund ...

Waukon State Bank recently made a generous $5,000 donation toward this new ambulance serving Waukon and the surrounding area, bringing the fleet to three fully equipped ambulances at Veterans Memorial Hospital. Pictured above, left to right, are Waukon State Bank Senior Vice President Dawn Farley, Veterans Memorial Hospital Administrator Mike Myers, Waukon State Bank President Gail Prestemon and Veterans Memorial Hospital EMS Supervisor and EMT-P Jeff Mitchell. The City of Waukon recently made an addition on to the current city ambulance garage to house this unit. Veterans Memorial Hospital, the Veterans Memorial Hospital Foundation, the City of Waukon and the Waukon Rural Ambulance Board together approved and purchased a new ambulance for the Waukon area service. The hospital’s ambulance runs have increased by over 75 % in the last five years, averaging 1.7 runs per day and eight to 10 transfers per week. Many times both ambulances are tied up, requiring mutual aid from another service or leaving an EMT on-call with only a jump kit and their personal vehicle for a possible third emergency. Since the hospital ambulance service also covers for other area services when they are short staffed, especially during the daytime hours, and provides cardiac back-up for the entire county, this extra truck and equipment will be highly utilized. Submitted photo.