Rural ambulance costs high, rising in Gogebic County

Editor’s note: This is the second story in a three-part series on the Nov. 6 ambulance millage vote for Gogebic County.

By RALPH ANSAMI

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While Beacon Ambulance presently provides ambulance service to much of Gogebic County, the eastern end, in the Watersmeet area, is served by Aspirus out of Iron River, at an annual cost of $43,000 a year.

Residents of that area are out of the “golden hour” that can determine life and death in a 911 emergency response call, said Jim Lorenson, chair of the Aspirus Ironwood Hospital board.

There were nearly 2,200 emergency 911 ambulance...