Partnership expands equipment outreach for emergency response teams in central Minnesota

By Dispatch staff report

May 22, 2022 at 10:00 AM

LITTLE FALLS — Good Neighbors EMS Fund and Sourcewell formed a partnership to equip emergency response teams in central Minnesota.

Good Neighbors EMS Fund is a newly established nonprofit with a mission to serve emergency response teams in Morrison County as an equipment buying and distributing resource.

Sourcewell, the regional service cooperative based in Staples, awarded Good Neighbors EMS Fund $175,000 in emergency services equipment funding for use in Sourcewell’s five-county service area of Cass, Crow Wing, Morrison, Todd, and Wadena counties.

Good Neighbors EMS Fund will use the one-time award to buy and distribute essential equipment to volunteer responders throughout the five-county area. Items include medical response bags and automated external defibrillators.

“This is a huge boost for local emergency responders,” said Pat Boone, Good Neighbors EMS Fund board member, in a news release. “The need for equipment is great; so many teams in our rural area are drastically under equipped. This is a good start to making sure our teams have the basic equipment they need.”

Paul Drange, Sourcewell director of regional programs, views the partnership as an effective way for the local service cooperative to support local communities.“We’re grateful for the expertise and support Good Neighbors EMS Fund provides in our region and happy to support this work,” Drange said. “This partnership is an effective way to get our region’s emergency crews the life-saving supplies and equipment they need.”

The equipment is expected to arrive mid-to-late summer.

For more information on this initiative or Good Neighbors EMS Fund, visit www.goodneighborsems.com/ .

By Dispatch staff report

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Partnership expands equipment outreach for emergency response teams in central Minnesota

Good Neighbors EMS Fund will use a $175,000 award from Sourcewell to buy and distribute essential equipment to volunteer responders throughout Cass, Crow Wing, Morrison, Todd and Wadena counties.