by 
By Alison Stanton
Copper Basin News
The Town of Kearny Ambulance Service is in the process of officially increasing its coverage area.
According to Lora Snow, ambulance supervisor for the Town of Kearny Ambulance Service, the current official service area begins 14 miles northwest of the Town of Kearny along Hwy 177 and goes South by Southeast from there 20 miles to the Aravaipa Bridge. This includes the incorporated areas of Town of Kearny, Winkelman and Hayden, and the unincorporated areas of Dudleyville, Riverside and Battle Ax, she said.
“The new area is one that we have always serviced since 1984; this includes the incorporated areas of the Town of Kearny, Hayden and Winkelman, and from there the 20 miles to the Aravaipa Bridge to the college and wilderness area, which would include Dudleyville and Piper spring and the residences along Hwy 77,” Snow said.
In order to have the additional areas included, Snow said the ambulance service needed to officially update its coverage area by submitting an amendment to its Certificate of Necessity.
“We have been serving this area anyway, so the main benefit to the residents will be that when a 911 call comes in, it will come directly to our service instead of going all over. This will affect our service area in a positive way,” Snow said.
Because the Town of Kearny’s Ambulance Service has already been servicing the additional area for years, Snow said there will not be any additions to staff or equipment, nor will it have a financial impact on the town.
“Everything will stay pretty much the same,” she said.
Although the response times have changed a little because of the official wording in the amendment to the Certificate of Necessity, Snow said she wants to set residents’ minds at ease by assuring them the updated times reflect what is already taking place.
“These response times have also been unofficially in effect since we have already been servicing the areas, and because of weather and road conditions across the river in the Dudleyville and Riverside areas.”
The deadline for written comments on the amendment is November 15.
The History of Town of Kearny Ambulance Service:
The service started in 1984 by then Chief of Police Patricia Huntsman after she decided that Kearny and the surrounding areas needed an ambulance service. Up until then, it only had a part time, privately-owned ambulance service which was going to shut down and not service the Copper Basin areas. There were 26 volunteers at the time that it started, and then a couple of years later the Town of Kearny decided to go with a full time team. Currently there are eight part time paramedics and one full time paramedic; 11 part time EMTs and one full time EMT, and two ambulances.
by by