DOWNIEVILLE, Calif. May 19, 2020 – It’s National EMS Week and this is an opportunity to share the story of Emergency Medical Services in Sierra County and more specifically in western Sierra County.
The heart of our EMS System is its volunteers who respond for you when you have a need, no matter the time of day or night, whether fire, rescue or medical, with the necessary training, skill, equipment and supplies to meet whatever those needs are.
Our volunteers are Dispatchers, Cadets, Firemen, Emergency Medical Responders, Emergency Medical Technicians, Advanced Emergency Medical Technicians, Paramedics, Nurses, Mobile Intensive Care Nurses, Nurse Practitioners and EMS Medical Directors.
For such a remote, frontier area, our County has an amazing collection of skilled medical and fire rescue personnel who devote an extraordinary amount of time, energy and money to make our system work. We have state of the art equipment, training, supplies and vehicles.
It is a challenge to maintain all of these services within the budget limitations and level of training needed to meet the logistical and clinical demands of our community for 24/7 Primary, Urgent and Emergency Care.
We are supported in our efforts by governmental agencies such as the Sierra County Office of Emergency Services, the Sierra County Board of Supervisors, Cal Trans, the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office as well as Search & Rescue, Renown Medical Center, St Mary’s Medical Center, Tahoe Forest Hospital, Sierra County Health, Mental Health and Human Services Departments, and the California Highway Patrol.
Our regional partners like Norcal EMS, Enloe Medical Center and FlightCare as well as Reno Care Flight, Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, Eastern Plumas Healthcare, Graeagle Fire Department, and Plumas District Hospital. Our local community organizations such as the Downieville Fire Protection District, the Sierra City Fire District, the Downieville Lions Club, the Downieville Improvement Group, the Sierra County Chamber of Commerce, the Downieville Volunteer Fire Fighters Association, the Downieville Fire Auxiliary, the Pliocene Ridge Community Services District, the Alleghany Fire Department, the Pike City Fire Department, the Camptonville Volunteer Fire Department, the Sierra County Fire District #1, the Loyalton Fire Department, the Sierra County Joint Unified School District and the Sierra County School for Adults.
Other supportive community organizations include the Western Sierra Residential Center, the Western Sierra Medical Clinic, the Sierra Frontier Medical Resources, the Sierra Family Medical Clinic, the Western Sierra Food Bank, as well the many businesses and individuals who have supported our efforts to meet the community health care needs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Last but not least are our community news agencies that tell our stories and link us as individuals and communities including the Mountain Messenger, the Sierra Prospect, the Sierra Booster, the Camptonville Courier, YubaNet and the Union.
The very essence of community is to be there for each other when we have a life event that challenges our morbidity and mortality. We do so much for all of our citizens, our visitors and our families with so little and yet an overwhelming commitment to meet all of the community health care needs. As you can see, this system is a complex network of individuals, organizations, businesses and agencies that has the individual as the nucleus of this story.
Thank you all for your service and commitment!