HOPE — It’s not every day that a $30,000 check can help save someone’s life. 

But yesterday it did.  

As the Bonner County Ambulance District accepted a grant from the Sam Owen Firefighters Foundation, Inc., community members in the Hope and Clark Fork areas were given quick medical assistance again, something that had been lacking since the ambulance district was forced to halt operations there due to budget constraints.

The funds, totaling $30,000, will be used to fund a full-time summer season paramedic for the Hope and Clark Fork area from July 1 to Sept. 8.  

BCASD Chief Jeff Lindsey said the Sam Owen Firefighters Foundation jumped to provide aid when the ambulance district could no longer sustain staffing in the Hope area in 2024. The foundation, according to Lindsey, knew that residents in that area yearned to have advanced life support in their community.  

“During that time, during that summer that the paramedic was out there, we can attribute one, probably more than that, but at least one life saved,” Lindsey said. “The paramedic got on scene. There was an AED that shocked the patient. Our paramedic got there, began delivering advanced life support immediately, which incidentally saved this patient's life.”   

When a Bonner County EMS paramedic performed life-saving measures on one resident, community members saw the importance of quick access to medical assistance. 

Now, paramedics can respond to a scene in three to five minutes on average, instead of the projected 15- to 20-minute response time. 

The program is in its trial run, with high hopes that the district will be able to continue to provide paramedic services to the Hope and Clark Fork area.