Lakes Area Rescue Looking for Volunteers, Equipment Donations as They Expand Services

Lakes Area Rescue, which provides emergency medical services to Crow Wing County, Cass County, and parts of Brainerd, has recently expanded to cover East Gull Lake. In the past year, they have gone from eight members to 18 in the Crow Wing County coverage areas. They need even more volunteers, but they’ve have experienced challenges to equip their first responders and need help with funding.

Volunteers from Lakes Area Rescue will cover approximately 6,500 residents, 2,400 homes, and about 90 miles of public roads. In order for a first responder to be equipped and do their job properly, it costs at least $7,500. The radios needed for a first responder is $2,000 alone, and additional equipment like nitro, aspirins, and EpiPens are needed in the field among many other lifesaving tools.

Originally in the 1980s, funding came from a seat belt law the state created that allowed money from citations to help purchase EMS equipment. But by 2010, this had severely declined as fewer citations were given as drivers began to follow the law – although this was a good problem to have, it cut funds for first responders by a significant amount.

Without any more help from the state, Lakes Area Rescue looked to the Crow Wing County Board of Commissioners for help, where they asked them to start donating their surplus of used equipment. The organization is also in need of AEDs to help in emergency situations.

The Crow Wing County Board is supporting an idea to donate used equipment, but they say funding needs to come from the state level.

Anyone interested in donating to Lakes Area Rescue or volunteering as a first responder can visit their website.