For the next seven months, Juliaetta and Kendrick in north central Idaho will not have local emergency medical coverage 24 hours a day.
JK Ambulance, which operates out of the Kendrick Fire Hall, covers both towns. It’s struggled with staffing shortages that have been exacerbated by the Gwen Fire that burned nearly 29,000 acres since late July.
The Idaho Health and Welfare Board approved a waiver allowing the lapse in coverage Thursday morning.
“The providers that they have on-staff can do a great job of responding in the evenings and the weekends,” said Wayne Denny, bureau chief for EMS and preparedness. “It’s really during the workday that they have a hard time getting the ambulance staffed.”
Denny said JK Ambulance gets between 125 to 150 calls each year, which he said will help lessen the effect the waiver has on the community.
“It makes sense that a 911 service respond 24/7, but the reality is that in some situations they simply can’t,” Denny said.
Agency officials have asked crews in neighboring towns like Moscow and Deary to help respond to calls, though response times will be longer.
Denny said they will also organize training and recruitment drives to rebuild their volunteer staff before the waiver expires next spring.
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