HISTORY OF AMBULANCE SERVICE IN THE MARSING, MURPHY, REYNOLDS, WILSON, GIVENS HOT SPRINGS AREAS

Marsing Ambulance was founded in 1957; our service area included the boundaries of the Marsing Fire District.  The areas of Murphy, Reynolds, Wilson, and Givens Hot Springs were not within any ambulance district; Marsing started responding to those areas to meet the transport needs of the residents. At that time we were a 100% volunteer service so costs were low enough to maintain an ambulance utilizing only patient billing and community donations. Sadly, times have changed, demand for services have increased and volunteers have decreased making it necessary to find money for stipends or salaries to ensure an ambulance is available when needed. It became imperative to form a taxing district to begin meeting the financial demands of maintaining a fully staffed ambulance service. We included the MRW area in the taxing district so we could continue to provide services in that area.

In 2024 we again found the need to adapt to an ever changing landscape.  Being co-located with the Marsing Rural Fire Department was beginning to cause growth restrictions to both entities.  Unfortunately, State legislative rules that were used to create Marsing Ambulance Inc. and the district we were serving were prohibitive.  By rule, we were not permitted to own property or buildings as well as limited in the types of grants we were eligible to apply for.  The matter was placed before the voters in the 2024 general election to dissolve the existing ambulance district and create a new ambulance district under the current State legislative rules and we were blessed to have the support of the voters in that initiative.  The Marsing Ambulance EMS District was formally created.  Operations are slated to transfer from Marsing Ambulance Inc. to Marsing Ambulance EMS District on October 1, 2025. 

Call Volume

It’s no surprise that as the area has grown in population, so has requests for emergency services. This past growth, and predictable future growth, is why considerable effort is underway to plan and prepare for future needs of the ambulance service.

Volunteer Services

Marsing Ambulance remains a volunteer service. What makes that different? In an urban setting, the EMS services are provided by paid staff members that are on duty ready to respond in a moments notice. In a rural setting like ours, the call volume does not support the need for a dedicated paid system. But emergencies do of course happen so the need for the service is always present. And this is where dedicated volunteers make all the difference. When a request for service comes in, these volunteers drop what they’re doing, often times leaving their jobs or families, to respond to that call…and they do it because the members of their community need them to. Volunteers are all about supporting each other. This means that on any given call for help, you can see MANY volunteers showing up.