(Rapid City, SD) — The Rapid City Fire Department is warning they may have to cut rural EMS services. The fire department runs hybrid urban-rural EMS system that covers about 32-hundred square miles in rural Rapid City, Box Elder, New Underwood, Summerset and other nearby areas. Fire Chief Jason Culberson says demand for the service is increasing but funding to sustain it is not. Culberson says if nothing changes by the end of the year, the department may be forced to end the service in 2026. He believes that the responsibility to supply EMS services should fall on state leaders and needs to come through agreements in Pierre.
