The Lakeside Quick Response Unit is joining forces with the South Kalispell Fire District to extend its emergency services to the South Kalispell area.

The two emergency-response organizations have redrawn their boundaries to better serve the South Kalispell population and added a third ambulance to the Lakeside QRU fleet through a Montana Department of Transportation grant. The third ambulance, which they hope to station in South Kalispell at a location yet to be determined, is expected to arrive in the next few months.

The Lakeside QRU has been answering calls for 38 years in the Rollins, Lakeside, Somers and the Lower Flathead Valley. They respond to more than 400 emergency dispatched calls per year.

The recent changes emerged because residents and travelers in the south, east and west boundaries of the city of Kalispell did not have an existing ambulance service dedicated to their neighborhoods. Emergency calls had to be routed to Kalispell, Smith Valley or Evergreen emergency medical service providers.

Since a large percentage of the Lakeside QRU’s calls have started coming from the Somers and Lower Valley areas, Lakeside QRU Executive Director Jordan Owen and South Kalispell Fire Department Chief Chris Yerkes realized the existing setup wasn’t adequately serving these populations.

“When it became noticeable that over 50% of our 911 requests come from Somers and Lower Valley, we knew then we needed to work on a solution to increase our capabilities to serve those residents and travelers with the same response time and quality the Lakeside QRU has provided throughout its history,” explained Lakeside QRU Executive Director Jordan Owen. “We also knew we needed more personnel co-located to the area to aid in this effort.”

The majority of Lakeside QRU’s personnel is based in and around Lakeside, where the unit’s two ambulances are also currently located.

Five volunteer responders from the South Kalispell Fire District have joined the Lakeside QRU as part of this reorganization, bringing Lakeside’s total up to 22 responders.

But Owen said they are planning to see a 40% growth in service needs “in a very short time,” so they hope to recruit more volunteers for both Lakeside QRU and the South Kalispell Fire Department.

They are also looking for a facility to rent as soon as possible to station one ambulance from the current fleet in South Kalispell while awaiting the delivery of the new ambulance.

The facility should be an enclosed, environmentally controlled secure space, ideally near the highway. It should have a 10x12-foot garage door that will accommodate the ambulance.

“We don’t need much,” Owen said.

Anyone with ideas to help locate and lease such a place can call Lois Lauman 406-857-3512 or 406-253-2841.

Those interested in volunteering should call Owen at 406- 844-2775 for Lakeside QRU or Chief Yerkes at 406-253-6247 for South Kalispell Fire.