Fort Leavenworth upgrades ambulance service

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kansas - Fort Leavenworth's on-post emergency medical services contract is now operational, with EMS Unlimited advanced life support teams ready to respond to medical emergencies on the installation.

The EMS Unlimited paramedics and emergency medical technicians are co-located with Fort Leavenworth Fire and Emergency Services firefighters, working out of the Fort Leavenworth Fire Department's Station No. 2. The EMS teams work 48 hours on shift and 96 hours off, alternating among three full-time paramedics, who also serve as supervisors, and three full-time EMTs to stay staffed around the clock.

FLFD firefighters with EMT certification and additional training had been performing the post's pre-hospital care, including ambulance transport, since May until the contract EMS teams began providing care in July 2026.

Fort Leavenworth Fire and Emergency Services Assistant Chief of Operations and Contracting Officer's Representative Dustin Hensley said Leavenworth County Emergency Medical Service provided mutual aid on the more severe calls during the two months that firefighters were bridging the gap between county EMS care and the in-house contract. Hensley explained that emergency calls fall into color-coded severity levels, with green being no threat to life, yellow being more urgent with abnormal vital signs or other factors, red being life-threatening, and blue being cardiac arrest. The contract EMS teams can provide advanced life support and thus handle any level of medical emergency.

"The standard of care never changed, but the level of care got even better," Hensley said.

Hensley said that having ALS-capable teams means IVs, medications or whatever might be needed can be provided to patients during the 10-minute transport to the nearest hospital.

Why in-house EMS

When Fort Leavenworth's no-cost agreement with Leavenworth County EMS was up for renewal last year, Leavenworth County commissioners informed installation leaders that the federal government would have to pay $1.2 million to continue the EMS service. That amount was found to be disproportionate to the post's actual use. Two service extensions were granted in 2025 by the commission as installation leaders worked through the issue, and during that time, post acquired an ambulance and crews began training to be ready regardless of the outcome of the negotiations. Ultimately, what the commission wanted and what the government could provide were not in alignment, and so emergency medical care was provided for the installation by EMT-certified firefighters until the EMS contract began. Post's first responders were already providing basic life support when responding to emergencies and waiting for ambulances to arrive before the new system, and they will continue to respond to calls alongside the new contract EMS teams.

The consensus among many of post's emergency responders and leaders has been that having an on-post EMS system means faster response times, without the wait for an ambulance to be dispatched from off post, equating to better emergency care for the Fort Leavenworth community.

Contract teams

EMS Unlimited EMT Kylen Larrabee said she was doing some eight- to 10-hour roundtrip patient transports from southwest Kansas hospitals to Wichita facilities before coming to work on the Fort Leavenworth crew.

"I much prefer this (911) side over the (inter-facility transport) side. It's been nice to be able to get experience on both sides in EMS," she said.

Larrabee said the EMS Unlimited teams have already responded to a variety of calls, including caring for patients with burns, low blood pressure and more. She said the firefighters with whom the paramedic-EMT teams now serve have made any apprehension she might have had about the new contract position dissipate.

"They've been all super welcoming, making us feel at home, being a part of their family, so it's been such an easy transition," she said. "We're happy to be here, and they're happy that we're here."

'When in doubt, call 911'

Hensley said if someone is experiencing an emergency, such as a medical emergency or the need to report a structure fire, 911 is the number to dial.

Some callers who actually need emergency services have been calling the non-emergency military police line, 913-684-2111, which could delay help but also means the caller would not have access to the emergency medical dispatcher that 911 callers are connected to.

"(The EMD will) walk you through the emergency until we get there," Hensley said. "For example, if somebody's having a cardiac arrest, (the EMD) will walk you through exactly what to do, if (the caller is) willing, to start CPR, how to do compressions, and they will walk you through all of these steps."

Hensley said having an EMD on 911 calls is a welcome perk that has come with the new on-post EMS service.

"That EMD can start asking questions, and our dispatch is (having emergency services respond) and monitoring the call. So, as they're talking, our dispatch can give us live updates on the radio (such as) that a patient is now breathing or a patient is in cardiac arrest or not breathing … or a patient is located in a certain area. That's a lot of information we need."

Hensley said to call 911 if in doubt about which line is the most appropriate to use.