The Current EMS ENDs June 30th

In less than 60 days, the Copper River Basin will be without an ambulance service unless another EMS service can fill the void. The time has come for the Copper River Basin to take care of its own. CREMS is willing to once again provide EMS response and ambulance service for its communities. Since 1981, our communities have stood united in this effort. We are a strong and resilient group of communities and we have chosen to live here with the unique characteristics that comprise the Copper River Basin. We can do it again! CREMS has the equipment, supplies, and infrastructure to restore ambulance service in the region, but we need your pledge of financial support and volunteers to make it possible.

The time for decision is now. Throughout the US, it is almost always municipalities, counties, or boroughs that fund EMS. The Copper River Basin is proud to not have additional layers of local government, but if this region cannot support EMS by itself then it will likely not have an ambulance service.

We have less than two months to assess the feasibility of a locally supported EMS service and to restore an ambulance service. In order to make this work, CREMS would have to operate utilizing a hybrid system with both paid advanced level medics and certified EMS trained volunteer responders. We simply do not have enough available volunteers to support an all-volunteer service. Our volunteers would need to be dedicated and would operate on a rotating schedule to allow for their own freedoms from being on call 24/7. There is a local residency requirement for both paid and volunteer medics and administrators. We need to hear from you to what level are you ready to respond?

CREMS proposes to offer one Advanced Life Support (ALS) and one Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulance service. We can’t tell you how much you need to contribute for CREMS to be able to sustain reliable and local ALS ambulance service 24/7/365. CREMS understands that some smaller businesses and individual families may be able to contribute $50, a couple of hundred dollars, or maybe more, while others may be able to contribute a few thousand dollars. CREMS hopes that bigger businesses and organizations may be able to contribute $5K, $10,000 or even $25,000 or more. CREMS has the flexibility to receive agreed-upon service contracts, agreed-upon in-kind contributions, monthly, quarterly, or lump-sum contributions.

Relying on just a couple organizations to fund our EMS service is unsustainable here in the Copper River Basin. We know that! We live here too, and we know how difficult it can be. This is why we all need to work together and support our EMS in ways that we can! CREMS believes that it will have a sustainable model by relying on grants, CAP, fundraising opportunities, and support from our community members,
businesses, and organizations.

​CREMS believes in 100% transparency. If we don’t receive enough funds or volunteers, we won’t be able to provide this service to the Copper River Basin. It’s time for us to help ourselves and each other.