Jefferson Central Fire & EMS District begins offering advanced life support ambulance services in Jefferson County

RIGBY, Idaho (KIFI) — Emergency medical services in parts of Jefferson County are getting an upgrade.

Central Fire District is now offering advanced life support, or ALS, ambulance services, adding two fully stocked ALS ambulances to its emergency response system.

The new service begins after decades of the Idaho Falls Fire Department being the only provider of ALS ambulance services for the Jefferson County area.

Central Fire District previously operated a basic life support, or BLS, ambulance out of its Rigby station.

BLS care can include basic airway management, patient movement, and other medical assistance. The level of service does not provide the same advanced medications and interventions available through ALS.

What ALS changes:

The new ALS ambulances give crews additional tools to treat patients experiencing serious medical emergencies.

Those capabilities include:

• Advanced airway management
• Cardiac assistance
• Additional medications
• Pain medication
• Treatment for serious emergencies such as heart attacks and strokes

Roger Anderson, Chairman of the Jefferson Central EMS District, described the transition as “another level of an ability to save lives.”

For context of the advancement, Anderson gave an example of what type of situation can be remedied:

"Let's say you had a heart attack *yesterday in Jefferson County and you needed some life-saving drugs," Jefferson said. "[Previously] we had to wait for Idaho Falls to get here because we weren't licensed to provide that service to them. But today we'll be able to get there in a shorter amount of time and be able to administer those life saving drugs and procedures in a quicker, in a quicker time frame."

For the EMS and Fire district, this celebration has been years in the making.

"We're just so excited. I mean, this is just such a big, big deal," Anderson said. "It's the culmination of a lot of work and the patience of residents of Jefferson County to get to this point. And so, today's just kind of that starting point: It's kind of the ending point of one era and the starting point of a new era."

Central Fire District now has two ALS ambulances operating within the district.

"We'll be able to do airways, more IVs, TCA, some of the things that will help save lives on traumas," Anderson said.

The ambulances will cover the Central and Roberts areas, while other departments will provide backup as needed: Idaho Falls Fire Department will now serve as a backup for ALS ambulance services, while Madison Fire Department will provide backup for the Northside.

Air Idaho Rescue also attended the launch of the new ALS service.

The transition also includes additional medical personnel. One ambulance currently has a chase medic, while medic students are assisting with the new service. The chase medic is expected to eventually transition into a ride assistant role.

The new ambulance service is part of the emergency response system involving the Jefferson Central Ambulance District, Central Fire District, and quick response units, or QRUs.

Ambulance service in Jefferson County began expanding in 2022, when Central Fire District began providing BLS ambulance services from its Rigby station.

The Roberts Fire District and residents within the district also had the opportunity to vote on ambulance services.

What's next?

Central Fire District leaders say the next goal is to establish an ambulance service in the Ririe area, continuing the expansion of emergency medical response throughout Jefferson County.