More tourists create need for more first responders in Island Park

ISLAND PARK, Idaho (KIFI) - Tourism to the Island Park area has grown exponentially since the coronavirus pandemic. Local authorities said this year has been the biggest year they’ve ever had.

While it's good for the economy it’s not as good for a short-staffed group of first responders who are trying to handle a massive increase in accidents and emergency calls.

“This little two-lane highway wasn’t built to handle the volume of traffic that we have been seeing the last couple of years," Idaho State Police Master Corporal Coverley said as he investigated a small accident. "We have crashes all day, every day," he said.

First responders are being called to more emergencies every day than ever before and they just don’t have enough staff.

“We are all-volunteer crew members and there’s not very many of us that live up here who can handle the calls that come in," said Ray Ball of Island Park EMS. "Island Park is growing rapidly. Yellowstone is a hot destination spot, so the traffic on the highway has increased dramatically. With that comes more accidents, more health concerns, and more issues that we get to respond to."

”The city of Island Park is 23 miles long. It runs along Highway 20 up to West Yellowstone.

The size of the area and the fact that police fire and EMS are coming from towns even further away makes it extremely difficult to have officers nearby when an emergency happens.

"We can only do what we can do one at a time so unfortunately some of the calls were not able to get to, at least not as quickly as needed,” Ball said.

“When this call came out, the county was doing a shift change so they didn’t have any deputies up there," Coverly said. "I was at the end of my shift and I was down in Ashton, and the Deputy was in St. Anthony. So, there is just not enough of us to cover the entire stretch of the highway in Fremont county or actually in District 6.

"The ambulance at this accident had barely cleared the scene when it was called out again not two minutes later,“ Ball said.

They say what they really need is funding for more full-time help instead of part-time volunteers.

While those concerns are being looked at by the city and county, they say the need is greater than the speed of things are getting done.