The Rice Lake Fire Department is hoping to acquire a second ambulance at a cost of $280,000 to keep EMS transport service available 24/7, and expand and enhance services.
Fire Chief Mike Hover gave a presentation to the City Council on Monday during a budget hearing.
Since the EMS transport service started on Nov. 9, the Fire Department’s ambulance has gone on 146 runs in total, 120 of which were recorded in 2023. That’s 120 times people didn’t have to wait for an ambulance to arrive from a different town, Hover said.
Expenditures for the program since its inception through the end of June have come in at $24,452 and revenues through Sept. 30 have been $28,347. The department is behind about four to five months in collecting revenues because of the insurance process.