Shoshoni’s new ambulance now in service three days a week – expanding to full coverage soon

(Shoshoni, WY) – The Town of Shoshoni’s new ambulance is now up and running, providing emergency medical services to the community three days a week – Thursdays through Saturdays.

Shoshoni Police Department Chief Chris Konija said the ambulance will be available seven days a week beginning next month, when the entire police department is expected to complete their training to become certified Emergency Medical Responders. 

“We are the first in the State of Wyoming to start an ambulance service staffed by the police department,” Konija noted. 

“This has been in the works for two years, and we are finally ready to provide a critical service for our citizens, bringing full circle what it means to serve and protect.”

‘The catalyst’

The town began working on developing its own ambulance service about two and a half years ago, Konija recalled, after he and SPD Sgt. Jeff Leafgreen responded to a report that a 72-year-old woman had experienced a sudden heart attack while traveling through Shoshoni.

Leafgreen arrived at the scene in under a minute and immediately began cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, Konija said; the officers also delivered two shocks to the patient, who had a pulseless ventricular fibrillation heart rhythm.

“We continued to work on her for nearly 40 minutes before Frontier (Ambulance) arrived and took over treatment,” Konija said. “The female patient was stabilized with a pulse and was subsequently life flighted to the cath lab in Casper. 

“(But) this experience served as the catalyst for the urgent need to do better.”  

‘A new model’

Initially, Konija said town officials discussed the possibility of bringing one of Frontier’s ambulances into Shoshoni, but that idea didn’t “come to fruition” – so they decided to “address this problem through direct action,” creating “a new model” that would “utilize police officers to serve as both law enforcement and, when the need arose, to serve as EMTs.”

“Too often we respond and are first on scene and unable to do much but wait,” Konija explained. “I felt our citizens deserve better, and this will allow us to treat them and get to a higher level of care in less time than it would currently take just to have an ambulance arrive.”

Local officers will continue their training by participating in a basic EMT course next year, he added.

“This is only the beginning as we learn to ‘walk’ and will eventually learn to ‘run’ with the intention of addressing problems head-on with practical solutions for our citizens,” Konija said. 

For more information, call the Town of Shoshoni at (307) 876-2515.