Banner Expands EMT Services West of Town Reducing Response Times

On Thursday, October 24, at 11 a.m., community leaders and the Banner Churchill Community Hospital team will gather at 4490 Reno Highway, the old Stockman’s Rental buildings, to officially dedicate the new EMS Station 2, established to serve the growing population of Churchill County.

Steven Towne, Emergency Management Service Chief and Associate Director of Banner Churchill Community Hospital, EMS, said they will be staffing an ambulance on the west side of town. 

“Most of the population over the years has moved toward the west side of town, west of Highway 95. There’s been a lot of construction, a lot of homes built that way over the last ten years, so what we’re doing is meeting the needs of Churchill County and Fallon by reducing our response times and having an ambulance over there,” Towne said. 

He explained that the average response time to that side of town has increased significantly over the years due to traffic volume and growth. “We’re trying to maintain a response time average of under eight minutes, and we were just outside of that.” By having the ambulance on the community's west side, where 60% of the call volume is, there is a better chance of survival.

“We know that if someone is in cardiac arrest and we can get to you in under eight minutes if there is early activation of 9-1-1, pre-ambulance arrival of CPR, we have a much better chance of resuscitating someone. Whether it is a spouse or bystander, we are blessed by law enforcement on that side of town who can get there and administer CPR; we can potentially save lives. We see a lot of trauma and car accidents on that side of town, time matters,” Towne said.

In addition to the EMS crew, the facility will also allow the storage of spare ambulances, off-season trailers, and side-by-side items. Towne said there is also a training area upstairs where the crew can maintain their skills. According to Towne, Banner is not adding staff at this time. “We are moving one of the current crews from the hospital station over to the new station,” he explained. “We will have one crew at the hospital and one crew at the new station staffed 24 hours a day, and we have a third crew on for 12 hours during the day. 

According to Mike Berney, who sits on the Hospital Board, the board has been seriously considering a “west side” EMS Station with the support of the hospital foundation for several years. 

“Alan and Tracy Harrison contacted us to see if we as a group would be interested in leasing their building. They also felt the need was there for this type of service and structured a great deal for us to help our community,” he said. “We could not have done it without them.”

The hospital foundation and the board paid for the remodel costs to prepare the building for EMS use, and Bob Hammon Construction oversaw the work. 

“The board, its foundation, Banner Community Hospital, and Alan and Tracy are excited that the building is completed and what that will mean for the citizens of Fallon and Churchill County,” Berney said.

“This could not have happened without their support,” Towne said. “The auxiliary, the board, the foundation they’re funding, this would not have gone forward without their support.” He said the Banner Churchill Hospital Auxiliary fundraisers and the donors through the foundation paid for the renovations and the internet technology structures at the new station. 

Churchill Community Hospital board members include Mike Berney, Stuart Richardson, Bjorn Selinder, Gary Imelli, Mayor Ken Tedford, Lynn Pearce, Banner CEO Rob Carnahan, and Roger Diedrichsen.

Foundation members include Chairman Dennis Mills, Amiee Fulk, Joanna Deane, Gary Imelli, Banner CEO Rob Carnahan, and Kimberlee Beeghly. Information on the hospital board can be found at cch.foundation.com

The Ribbon Cutting will be held on October 24 at 11 a.m. at 4490 Reno Highway.

“This is probably the biggest thing to happen to EMS in the community for a very long time,” Towne said.