Wyoming's rural EMS funding gap, aging ambulances put patients at risk

CAMPBELL COUNTY, Wyo. — Rural EMS agencies across Wyoming are struggling to keep ambulances on the road amid an estimated $30 million annual funding gap, forcing crews to run high-mileage rigs over long highway stretches with little backup.

In Campbell County, one 2003 ambulance with roughly 300,000 miles on it lost a wheel while transporting a patient, an incident local leaders point to as a symbol of how close to the edge rural EMS has drifted, Cowboy State Daily reported.

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Because Wyoming does not classify EMS as an essential service, counties aren’t required to fund ambulance operations. Many services survive on a tenuous mix of small tax subsidies, grants, billing revenue and volunteer labor, even as call volumes climb an