Residents in a small north-central Iowa town will see ambulance service restored sometime next year.
Dows, with a population around 500, had to shut down its EMS program a full decade ago.
Fire Chief Dave Stein says there weren’t enough qualified first responders to keep the ambulance rolling, but times have changed and five volunteers are now lined up for the re-launch.
“We have a paramedic and a few nurses and also some EMTs that are in the community,” Stein says, “and we have reached out to Iowa Specialty Hospital in Belmond and they had an ambulance that they were retiring and they donated it to the city of Dows.”
The chief says Dows residents are thrilled to hear local ambulance service is being restored after a ten-year absence. Other Wright County towns, including Belmond, Clarion and Eagle Grove, all have ambulance services.
“Right now, it is a 25-to-45-minute wait for an ambulance to get to Dows,” Stein says, “and that’s just a little bit too long, as everybody knows, seconds count when it’s in a medical emergency.”
Hospitals and clinics in the area donated medical supplies to stock the ambulance, but funding for the program is still short about $50,000. Donations can be sent to Dows City Hall.
A town meeting and fundraising meal is planned for December 12th. The goal is to restore the service by mid-2027.
(Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)