Kamiah Fire-Rescue Receives Highest 9-1-1 Ambulance Service License Allowed in Idaho

PRESS RELEASE

Kamiah Fire-Rescue (KFR), operating under a joint-powers agreement between the City of Kamiah and the Kamiah Fire Protection District, announced December 3, 2021, that it has received its 9-1-1-Paramedic Response and Paramedic Interfacility License from the Idaho Bureau of EMS and Preparedness.

Licensing took a year to accomplish and it is considered a major improvement in EMS for the Upper Clearwater Valley of North Central Idaho, according to a KFR release.

KFR, formerly Kamiah Ambulance, just a year and a half ago was considering the surrendering its EMS license. After a major organization change and system upgrade, it now staffs a full-time chief, six full-time personnel including four paramedics, AEMTs, EMTs, and soon EMRs, and 25 volunteers who are all cross-trained for fire, EMS, rescue, and other requested services.

KFR is the only 9-1-1 paramedic-level service in three counties: Lewis, Idaho, and Clearwater—all located in the Upper Clearwater Valley. It primarily responds to the Kamiah, Woodland, Glenwood, and Caribel areas, but the ambulance services the east portion of Lewis County and the northern area of Idaho County, and it touches into Clearwater County.

KFR is also the first ambulance organization in the Upper Clearwater Valley to have a compensated medical director, Curtis Sandy, MD, an American Board of Emergency Medicine–EMS licensed physician, according to a release.