Clarissa Kell | Daily Press Pictured are the two ambulances parked in the current Hermansville Rescue Squad building, located at W5468 1st St. in Hermansville, recently. Come spring, the Hermansville Rescue Squad will move one of its ambulances to a new building in Spalding. The emergency unit’s expansion will benefit its coverage area of northern Menominee County.

HERMANSVILLE — The Hermansville Rescue Squad provides medical emergency services to all of northern Menominee County. The rescue squad currently operates solely out of Hermansville, but come spring, it will have two locations — Hermansville and Spalding.

The rescue squad, located at W5468 1st St. in Hermansville, has been providing 911 capability emergency response in Harris, Spalding, Meyer and Faithorn townships since 1950.

“We first respond, as well as provide mutual aid to the local fire departments along with medical and extraction,” Rayne Roberts, an emergency medical technician (EMT) and treasurer for the rescue squad, said.

Opening a second location for one of the organization’s two ambulances had been in the works since September.

Roberts explained a new ambulance was purchased in October and the rescue squad then began communicating the idea to both Meyer and Spalding Township boards in the beginning of November.

The Hermansville Rescue Squad is a non-profit organization and member-owned, meaning it is not run by a specific municipality. There are seven active members that make up the Hermansville Rescue Squad.

The Hermansville Rescue Squad purchased the old Cedar Lumber Company building on Pine Avenue in Spalding.

“This coming spring we will be moving one (ambulance) to (Spalding),” Roberts said, noting they’re waiting for the snow to melt to access the building for the expansion to begin.

She added there has been rumors about the unit leaving Hermansville, but that is not the case.

She said one ambulance will remain at its current location, and only one ambulance will operate out of the new location.

The Hermansville Rescue Squad is the only ambulance service located in northern Menominee County.

There are two other ambulance units that serve different parts of the county, one in the city of Menominee and one that serves southern Menominee County.

According to Roberts, the reason why it is extremely important to have an ambulance service in the local area of northern Menominee County is because it would take far too long for others out of the immediate area to respond.

She said in this line of work, seconds count.

“We want to get there as fast as we can,” she said.

When it comes to the expansion, Roberts said having the two ambulances at two different locations will only benefit northern Menominee County.

Henry Leeseberg, an EMT and QA committee member for the rescue squad, said opening up the new location will cut off 15 minutes from the rescue squads response time as a majority of the active members live in the Nadeau, Carney and Powers area.

“We have to try and provide fast and reliable emergency medical services to as many in our county as possible,” he said.

Besides creating a faster response time, Roberts said the two locations will allow crews to respond faster when there are two calls at the same time in different areas of the county.

She explained the Hermansville Rescue Squad also provides standby at events, like at the Carney Roundup Rodeo and local sporting events in case medical care is needed.

The two locations would allow for the crew to leave one ambulance at a building and bring the closer ambulance to the event for standby, Roberts said.

Since the announcement to the public about the move, Roberts said the community has been supportive.

“We want to thank our community in its support and backing in all of this,” she said.