About Ripon Guardian Ambulance
HISTORY
Ripon Guardian Ambulance Service (RGAS) is municipally owned and operated by the City of Ripon. The service began in 1977 as an EMT-Basic ambulance service. In 1985, we became an Advanced EMT level service. In 1990 we added defibrillator certification, and on January 1, 2016 we upgraded to a paramedic level service which is the highest level of pre-hospital care. Funding for training for our start-up paramedic program was generously provided by the Ripon Medical Center Foundation.
LEADERSHIP
Joe Erdmann managed the department from 1977 until June of 1984, at which time Bill Locke became the EMS Chief. Lindabeth Angle assumed that responsibility in June of 1994. John Teachout was appointed EMS Chief in 2005 until his retirement in February of 2021 when Mitchell Matuszeski was hired as the EMS Chief.
WHO WE SERVE
We proudly serve the City of Ripon, Town of Ripon, Town of Rosendale, Village of Rosendale, Village of Fairwater, Township of Nepeuskun, and the northern half of both the Townships of Metomen and Springvale. Our district spans approximately 162 square miles.
STAFFING
The EMS Chief is a full time position working primarily business hours Monday through Friday. Our second full time position is occupied by Captain Melinda Boehm. Melinda is the second in command of the department and works primarily weekend hours. There are two Assistant Chiefs, Ryan Huser who is in charge of training, and Anthony Dash who oversees operations. Chris Dudzinski is the Administrative Lieutenant for the department. We have five Operations Lieutenants who are the point of contact for our crewmembers during evening and overnight hours. We provide a great deal of flexibility with our scheduling allowing our employees to let us know when they can be on call. Many of our employees have full time employment elsewhere and this flexibility allows them to work a full time job while still being able to pick up on call hours.
OPERATIONS
Our primary ambulance, MED1 is staffed around the clock with a minimum of one paramedic and one EMT or AEMT. We have a combination of part time and paid on call employees. Weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. our MED1 ambulance is staffed with employees at the station and ready to respond immediately from the City Building where our quarters is located. During evening and overnight hours the ambulance is staffed with paid on call employees who if they live in or near the City of Ripon may respond to the station from home when a call is received. We are dispatched by Fond du Lac County Emergency Dispatch Center. Each ambulance has a mobile data computer to receive computer aided dispatch information. All of our report forms are electronically completed via a tablet in each ambulance. RGAS operates with three fully equipped ALS ambulances and a medical response vehicle that allows a paramedic to respond quickly and directly to the scene of a call.
APPARATUS
- 2014 Lifeline Ford E450 Ambulance
- 2018 Lifeline Ford E450 Ambulance
- 2022 Lifeline Ford E450 Ambulance
- 2022 Ford F150 SSV Medical Response Vehicle
MEDICAL DIRECTION
Our medical control doctor is Michael Combs, M.D who provides medical direction from SSM Ripon Community Hospital.
CALL VOLUME
We currently average five ambulance calls per day. In 2023 we responded to over 1,500 calls for service.
Oct Stats
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