Federal legislation regulating the provision of ambulance service was the reason the local providers, which at the time were made up of a number of funeral homes in the county, exited and in 1969 Mercy Ambulance Service started. As a standalone company, it offered the standard of care known as “Basic Life Support (BLS)” care utilizing Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs).

By 1976, Mercy Ambulance was privately owned by Gerald and Patricia Primeau of Calumet. At the same time, Dr. David Gilbert saw a need for a more advanced system and became an integral part in what is now known as “ALS” (Advanced Life Support) standard of care. ALS service/care utilized personnel trained to the level of paramedic. In addition to providing basic life support, an ALS service offers advanced airway procedures, IV therapy, ECG (electrocardiogram) recognition and pharmacology. After rigorous/ arduous requirements and training, Mercy Ambulance Service became the first licensed Advanced Life Support Service in the state of Michigan, an accomplishment that is still revered today.

In 2003, Mercy Ambulance Service, Inc. was sold to Marquette General Health System, and became Mercy EMS, Inc. Five years later in 2008, Aspirus Keweenaw and UP Health Portage purchased Mercy EMS from Marquette General and is governed jointly by a board of directors consisting of administrators and physicians from both hospitals.

Today, Mercy EMS, Inc. is a paramedic/ALS service serving Houghton and Keweenaw counties, the two most northern counties in Michigan. Our service area consists of 1,250 square miles with a population of 38,000 people resulting in 3,000 emergency (911) responses per year and over 500 hospital-to-hospital transfers to our regional medical center two hours away. The company now has 14 full-time positions and 17-part time employees, operating a fleet of seven ambulances, five of which are ALS equipped. Three duty and backup crews are scheduled, 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.

Safety is our top priority; our van has the capability to put a wheelchair directly into the back of the vehicle which is then harnessed down in 4-6 different areas as well as a seatbelt style harness to ensure that the person is safely secured in the van.

What types of appointments can the van be used for? Anything! We implemented this service because we felt there was a desperate need in our service area for clients who needed transportation back home after being brought to any local Emergency Department via Ambulance. We quickly opened this service up to much more than that, such as:

• Doctor Appointments

• Dentist Appointments

• To and from Nursing/Assisted Living homes

• Funerals/Visitations

• Pharmacy Pick ups

• Long-Distance Trips

These are just a few examples of some of the instances we have used the van for. This service is available for almost everything.

If you are having a medical emergency and need to go to a hospital you need to call 911, we cannot transport to any emergency department. Our trained EMTs and Paramedics will be able to assist you in these cases! If you have a question about our service or are looking to schedule an appointment, give us a call at (906) 482-0932 and ask for Dylan or Joann.

We look forward to being a reliable service in our area!

Our shifts consist of twelve hours on duty and an additional twelve hours on backup. To be considered full-time, it requires three shifts per week. Schedules are designed to offer every other weekend off. There is a lot of opportunity for standby events at local hockey and football games, as well as other  standby events.

Employment Application

The kids will have the opportunity to learn lifesaving emergency care such as CPR, stop the bleed, choking interventions, and much more! We hope with the information and skills provided to the students that they will be able to act in case of an emergency as well as pass on this information to family and friends.

This is a FREE event to the campers as it is sponsored by many different local organizations, emergency agencies, and donations from local businesses. Space is limited to the event and participants will be selected at random after the registration closes.

Day one of the camp will kick off with a car extrication demo where campers will get an up-close demonstration on the steps taken to extricate a patient from a crashed vehicle. (This is just a demonstration as the patient in the vehicle is not actually injured). Following the demonstration the campers will get to tour all of the emergency vehicles involved with the demonstration as well as many different types of emergency vehicles such as: US Coast Guard boat, Bootjack Fire and Rescue Hovercraft, Houghton County Sheriff Mobile Command Center, multiple different fire trucks, and much more! This is a great time for the campers to get a hands on feel for items in these vehicles and ask questions.

Following the vehicle tours, students will learn injury prevention and what to do in cases of certain emergencies. This is a very brief description of day one as the students will receive a lot of very beneficial information this day. Also during day one, we will have a helicopter landing (weather dependent) on site at Mercy EMS.

Day two will be made up of many different topics such as fire safety which will feature a Smoke House where Camp 911 participants will be placed in a camper that fills with smoke (don’t worry, it is just vegetable oil) to simulate what steps to take if you ever find yourself trapped in a room filling with smoke. Camp 911 participants will then be sent home with a fire prevention plan to talk about with their family.

The rest of the day consists of internet safety, wilderness survival, as well as multiple different stations where the campers will have to put the information and skills they have been taught to the test with different emergency scenarios. As stated above, this is a very brief description of day two as there is much more that goes on. A full schedule of events will be sent out to campers after registration.

To conclude the camp, we will have the campers run through our Rescue Relay, which family members our encouraged to come watch! All campers will receive a t-shirt, water bottle, and bystander care kit.

Any questions involving Camp 911? Give us a call at (906) 482-0932 or email dboberg@mercyems.com