Montana EMS crews honored in Helena as calls keep rising
Helena honored EMS crews, but the larger story was the strain behind the applause: Montana responders were called out more than 162,000 times last year.
EMS crews got applause at the Capitol Rotunda in Helena, but the numbers behind the recognition were harder to ignore. Montana EMS providers were requested more than 162,000 times last year, a reminder that ambulance crews, paramedics, and volunteers are carrying a growing share of emergency care in towns like Helena, East Helena, and across rural counties.
State health officials said the demand kept climbing. In 2024, Montana EMS services were requested more than 150,000 times, including more than 7,000 calls involving children with illness or injury. A 2023 annual report from the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services said 127 ground transport agencies responded to 138,009 requests for service, while 14 air medical agencies handled 6,809 requests. Together, those figures show how heavily the state leans on both road crews and aircraft when seconds matter.
The recognition came during EMS Week, when Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras and the Department of Public Health and Human Services honored five EMS personnel and providers from across Montana at the Capitol on Thursday, May 22, 2025. The 2025 award recipients came from Toole County Ambulance, Bozeman Fire Department, American Medical Response of Billings, and Gallatin County EMS. The awards were peer-nominated, a nod to a profession that often depends on people evaluating one another’s work in the middle of calls, weather and long drives.
Among those recognized and highlighted in the ceremony was Briana Scherrer, a firefighter-paramedic with Central Valley Fire District, whose comments reflected the steady strain of the job and the responsibility of treating every patient with care and purpose. That burden extends far beyond ceremonial recognition. State trauma officials describe Montana’s EMS and trauma system as “largely voluntary,” and a 2024 trauma report said providers respond to more than 400 calls each day.
The same report said Montana’s injury mortality rate reached 91.2 per 100,000, the highest since 1979. It also warned that more than 130,000 Montanans could have poorer outcomes because six hospitals lost trauma designation and two others reduced trauma services since 2013. For communities that depend on fast transfers, that leaves crews waiting longer, covering longer distances and absorbing more of the load before patients ever reach a hospital.
EMS Week was established in 1974 by President Gerald Ford, and Montana’s 2025 proclamation marked May 18-24 as EMS Week and May 21 as EMS for Children Day. The calendar recognition may be annual, but the workload is constant, and in Montana the calls keep coming long after the applause ends.
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