New Asst. Chief looks to expand rural services

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(ABC 6 News) – An assistant fire chief in rural Iowa is looking to bring more to his new department than just his knowledge and experience.

Patrick Duffey has nearly a decade of experience with the Mason City fire department.

Duffey is now helping to lead the fire department in Grinnell and is working to start an ALS transport service there.

He plans to implement this once the contract with Midwest Medical has expired in February of 2025.

“With a majority of Iowa being rural population when they pick up the phone and call 911 for an emergency whether it be fire law enforcement or ems they expect someone to be responding. making sure that we have a service that is ready and capable is definitely what my priority is,” Duffey said.

He hopes that in the future county supervisors will declare EMS services within Poweshiek county as essential opening the door for additional funding for his department.