Rural Montana EMS Just Got A Massive $8.7 Million Boost

Rural Montana EMS Agencies Are Getting $8.7 Million For New Equipment

When it comes to health care, people living in rural Montana can sometimes feel like they're living in a health care desert.

But now, rural Montana EMS agencies are getting a major boost, with $8.7 million in federal funding going toward new ambulances and other lifesaving medical equipment.

Rural Montana EMS Crews Are Getting New Lifesaving Equipment

The money comes from the Federal Rural Health Transformation Program, which is being used to improve rural emergency medical services by replacing aging equipment and upgrading the tools crews use when emergencies happen.

Four agencies are receiving the funding, which will pay for new ambulances, including replacements for vehicles that are more than 20 years old, along with leased ambulances that are no longer fully functioning.

There's also money for equipment like ventilators, cardiac monitors, IV pumps, power-load systems, cots, and stair chairs that other EMS agencies will be able to access.

This could make a huge difference in parts of Montana where an ambulance crew may have hours of travel before a patient reaches a hospital.

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 16: (L-R) U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Mehmet Oz look on during a

Rural Montana EMS Faces Unique Challenges

The funding is part of the larger Rural Health Transformation Program, a $50 billion federal effort from the Trump administration that began distributing money to states earlier this year.

Politics aside, you don't have to agree with everything coming out of Washington, D.C., to recognize what this means for rural Montana. New ambulances and better EMS equipment can make a real difference when you're talking about communities where a trip to the hospital can take hours.

Montana DPHHS says the EMS equipment awards were announced Sept. 29 as part of the state's Rural Health Transformation Program.