Rantoul to go into agreement with Arrow Ambulance Services in July

RANTOUL, Ill. (WAND)- Rantoul has been using Advanced Medical Transport of Eastern Illinois as a way to provide ambulance services for quite some time.

"Rantoul has actually had an ambulance in town all the time. For Rantoul, the AMT services are very busy, as AMT will tell you," said Firefighter Chief Chad Smith.

But after more than 850 calls for service in 2024, the city decided they need an upgrade.

"I tell people the largest population of baby boomers are getting to that end of that age where they need additional medical care….So in a very short amount of time, we've seen a huge increase in calls of service," said Smith.

The reason for the change is to better serve more people in need, while minimizing the time required.

"The AMT service has a unit stationed in Rantoul. They want to handle a call for service. When that call goes out, then another unit would be coming from Champaign Urbana to backfill it," explains Smith.

Following a unanimous vote by all six board members at Tuesday night's meeting, Rantoul will partner with Arrow Ambulance Service.

"We will station an ambulance in the village of Rantoul, that will be an additional asset that we will add to resource our team," Jason Hayes, the Director of Carle Arrow Ambulance, Airline, Carle Regional EMS explains.

With the passing of this agreement, Carle Foundation Hospital hopes to further develop their connection with Rantoul.

"This is just another opportunity for us to be able to partner with the village and the fire department and be able to provide a high quality service from carl's arrow ambulance…this will allow us to continue to work as a partner in the community to hopefully develop and strengthen the ems service within that area," said Hayes.

The agreed contract with Arrow would begin on July 1st.