Ozark EMS will soon have a new home

OZARK, Ala. (WTVY) - After many years of sharing spaces, Ozark EMS will soon have a place to call their own.

“We’ve been with the fire station, and it’s worked well but it’s time for us to grow and to further help the citizens of Ozark,” said EMT Kristy Clark.

A process that has been in the works for some time. The Ozark City Council recently acquired a building on Parker Drive.

“We approved a new bay section that will be added to this building for the ambulances to be parked in. of course, there is some small renovations inside that has to be done primarily some showers built,” said Ozark Mayor Mark Blankenship.

The city hopes the changes will help in two ways. better serving the community, and helping to retain more first responders.

“We’ve been having some trouble over time keeping some ems people because when they’re in other locations working, they’re not co-mingled with the fire department,” said Blankenship.

While also looking to grow the department.

“The fire station was designed for a certain amount of people and we’re at that max so by being in our own building we can further grow add personnel the EMS,” said Clark.

This new stand-alone station will allow the Ozark EMS unit to rotate calls and work through their own chain of command, rather than jointly through the fire department.

The project is set to begin any day now with no timeline yet of completion.

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