Lakeside Ambulance/QRU marks more than four decades of serving
Lakeside Ambulance/QRU responders pictured from left to right: LeDawn Friesen-Dyck, 21 years with Youth With A Mission (YWAM), as strategic international missions coordinator; Lori Hanson, who works at Kalispell OB/GYN as an EMT/nurse and is also a volunteer firefighter with South Kalispell Fire Department and mother of three; David Streeter, retired military and law enforcement and an advanced EMT.
The Lakeside Ambulance/Quick Response Unit maintains a staff of emergency medical service personnel who collectively contribute thousands of hours each year to provide assistance to the communities it serves.
Founded in 1981, the mission of the Lakeside QRU is to provide essential, quality pre-hospital emergency medical care and transport.
“The QRU is a team of dedicated individuals serving its neighbors in the West Shore communities in times of need,” said Mike Sterry, Lakeside QRU’s board chairman and EMT. “Over the QRU’s history it has gone from a handful of community volunteers with basic medical training and supply backpacks to its current 35 volunteers and employees consisting of 20 highly trained emergency medical responders and technicians, five paramedics and a management team consisting of an executive director, operations manager, service director and human resource manager.”
The Lakeside Ambulance/QRU is celebrating its 41st anniversary with its popular ham dinner from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday, June 5.
The QRU operates out of two stations with a fleet of three ambulances and two quick response emergency vehicles.
Initially, the Somers Fire District had shared its satellite facility in Lakeside with the Lakeside QRU until 2009 when Al and Cora Luna kick-started a QRU building campaign by contributing 2 acres of land for a new facility. The Lakeside QRU Community Building was completed in 2012 as a result of overwhelming community support.
The Lakeside QRU is dispatched approximately 800 times each year, serving the communities of Lakeside, Somers, Lower Valley, Rollins and South Kalispell just west of Woodland Park. Fifteen percent of the QRU’s dispatched emergencies relate to motor vehicle accidents, Sterry said, adding that the majority of emergency calls are for medical trauma emergencies within people’s homes, places of work or while recreating.
A TRADITION for nine years for the popular ham dinner Sunday along with ham, the menu, which is catered by Vista Linda, will include scalloped potatoes, green beans, coleslaw, rolls, salad, dessert and beverages, including Tamarack’s Brewing Company’s “Training Wheels” Root Beer.
Tickets will be sold at the door for $15 per person. Kids under 6 eat free of charge. Eat in from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Lakeside QRU Building at 201 Bills Road in Lakeside, or call in your take-out order to Mike at 406-249-4745, or Lois at 406-253-2841 and it will be waiting for you at the door.
A raffle will be held beginning at 5 p.m, with prizes donated by local merchants. This year there will be a bonus raffle featuring a surprise gift in honor of the QRU’s 41st anniversary.
Lakeside QRU first responders, managers and board members will be on hand for questions and information, a great opportunity to meet the team in a non-emergency situation.
“All donations will primarily go towards the upgrade of our cardiac monitoring (LifePack 15) and life support systems (Lucas Compression Device),” Sterry said. “Both of these devices allow our medical professionals to provide the highest level of heart and life-support care possible.
“We're a small community consisting mainly of volunteers willing to donate our free time, 24 hours a day for the service of our community. Whether it's the middle of the night or a cold, wintery day our dedicated team members will be there in your time of need.”
For more information, contact Sterry at 406-249-4743 or Lois Lauman (former board chairperson) at 406-253-2841.
BREAKOUT BOX
The Lakeside Ambulance/QRU will celebrate its 41st anniversary with its popular ham dinner from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday, June 5.
Tickets will be sold at the door for $15 per person. Kids under 6 eat free of charge. Eat in from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Lakeside QRU Building at 201 Bills Road in Lakeside, or call in your take-out order to Mike at 406-249-4745, or Lois at 406-253-2841 and it will be waiting for you at the door.