SHAWANO, WI- The Shawano Ambulance Service officially moved into their new home on Wednesday. Director of Operations Pat Trinko says it was a long time coming.
“It is a milestone I guess.”
The new location is on Main Street next to the fire station. Trinko says it is a big change from working out of renovated or repurposed buildings for over five decades.
“You make do, that’s what we did and we were happy, because each time that we did move, we moved to a better facility, but there are always some drawbacks. This is the first time in our 53-year history that we have a facility that is built for the job that we do.”
Knowing that the future will only see increased call volumes and advanced expectations, Shawano Ambulance took the plunge to position themselves to meet these challenges by establishing a facility that will hopefully meet our needs for the next 40 or more years. Trinko says that is really important.
“Between 2015 and 2040, the number of people over the age of 65 or older are going to double in Shawano County,” he said. “That is only 19 years away and that is not a lot of time to have that demographic double and we are well aware that it is that population that tends to use ambulance services more.”
The facility is home to three crews that live there 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. The facility is equipped with a five stall garage that has two entrances for easy drive-in and drive-out. It also has a large kitchen and living area and for the first time, lockers for every member instead of a small cubical.
The facility also has bedrooms for everyone that includes a TV and automatic lights that turn on when pagers go off. Trinko says they are off to a great start with more to come.
“This location has room for more expansion.”
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