Copper River EMS gets $291,000 in federal money to rebuild its main 911 ambulance

The Copper River Emergency Medical Services Council in Glennallen has $291,000 in federal money to rebuild, rather than replace, its first-call 911 ambulance. The Health Resources and Services Administration awarded the money as congressionally directed spending, which Congress earmarks for a named project, for a project period of Sept. 30, 2026, through Sept. 29, 2027, according to the federal award record.

The project is a remount. The patient care compartment of a recently retired local ambulance would be stripped, upgraded and moved onto a new chassis and engine. The grant also covers a Stryker power load cot system and a Power Pro 2 gurney, which the council says will make lifting safer for medics and patients. The council estimates the remount costs nearly 40 percent less than buying a new ambulance.

The council's main ambulance is 16 years old and needs more and more maintenance, including time out of service, according to the award description. Its only other ambulance in service is nearly 30 years old. The region has no hospital or emergency room within 140 to 220 miles, and no city or organized borough, so there's no local tax money for ambulances, and the council relies on grants and donations. The state's Code Blue grant program, which helped buy the compartment being reused more than 20 years ago, now caps ambulance awards at $50,000.

By the council's count, it covers more than 23,000 square miles, an area larger than West Virginia, with 2,617 permanent residents and nearly 100,000 seasonal visitors. It answers more than 300 911 calls a year with volunteers and one paid on-duty medic, and each response and transport averages nearly four hours.

Those operational figures come from the council's own application.