EMS has always been the service that is in the background, unseen until needed, normally out of the hubbub and chaos of everyday life. That has changed over the last several weeks in Clinton County, with the rumor mill running wild regarding EMS services. We would like to ensure you have accurate information. Lansing Mercy Ambulance, a private EMS agency that served most of the southern half of the county for many years, is succumbing to the combination of poor reimbursements from insurance, the ever-increasing number of underinsured/uninsured, and the increasing costs of providing EMS services. Lansing Mercy and Clinton Area Ambulance Service Authority (CAASA) enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial partnership for many years. CAASA is in good standing. We have the extra financial support of the municipalities we serve, allowing us to have the staff and equipment needed to provide quality services to our communities. While we offered the services of CAASA, Eaton Area EMS is now the chosen provider for Dewitt City, Dewitt Twp, Bath Twp, and Olive Twp. They offered the coverage at a fraction of the cost presented by CAASA, along with the commitment to provide 2 ALS units to the municipalities, as well as sharing their intent to handle the transfers out of UM Sparrow Clinton. This offer was made possible with a significant subsidy from UM Health. Their plan for transfers has the potential to affect our service financially, so CAASA is being proactive in cutting costs, including no longer moving an ambulance to the south end of the county when their resources are unavailable. We are hopeful that UM Sparrow Clinton will choose to stay with CAASA, their local, long-time partner in community health.

We at CAASA want to assure everyone in the communities we serve that you remain our primary focus, and our goal of providing excellent and timely care for you is unwavering. We will not go seeking more calls or more territory to cover, and we will not make promises we cannot keep. We will offer invitations to join our Authority, allow you to have an equal seat at the table, and ask for an equitable contribution to the service. For that, we offer the same focus and commitment we bring every day to our current municipalities.

To expand on our commitment to our communities, we would like to share that our Community Paramedicine program is coming back online after a 5-year hiatus. This program uses specially trained Paramedics, working in concert with your primary care provider, to assist patients and caregivers who struggle with managing health concerns at home. This program was very successful in its prior 4-year run, and we look forward to helping even more folks as we make this program a permanent part of our service.

Please don’t forget our training offerings! We continue to do CPR, First Aid, Stop the Bleed, and other classes for schools, businesses, and other groups by request. And, when you see us at a local event, or at our base, please stop by and say hi to our crew and let them show you our ambulances and equipment we work with.

Clinton Area Ambulance Service was formed in 1973 to fill a void left by a local funeral home which could no longer provide ambulance service due to more stringent State of Michigan Emergency Medical Service (EMS) legislation. The service was licensed as Basic Life Support (BLS) and was originally staffed by volunteers who responded from their homes to the Chevy Suburban style ambulance that was stored at the former Ford garage near downtown St. Johns. Their training was upgraded from their original Advance First Aid training to licensed Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs). The minimum staffing on the ambulance was one EMT who was required to provide patient care in the ambulance, and one “Ambulance Attendant” who could assist on scene and was the designated driver. A 3-bay ambulance garage facing Oakland Street, complete with living quarters was built near the hospital. The original coverage area, protecting 20,000 people, consisted of the City of St. Johns; Villages of Fowler and Maple Rapids; and Bengal, Bingham, Essex, Greenbush, Olive, Riley, and Dallas Townships. Requests for service were made by calling 224-HELP (4357), with the phone being answered at the Director's home, or when not available, Rivard’s Nursing Home. Prior to the base being built, they would call the on-duty crew members on their 7-digit home phone number to respond to the call. Once the base was built, crews staying at the base would be notified through the “bat phone”, a direct phone line from the Directors home to the base. Most of the ambulance crew members were local residents, who received $10.00 per call, and were asked to work at least one day per week and one weekend per month. A monthly paycheck ranging from $27 to $80 was common. Call volume was about 500 a year in 1983, ambulances cost $13,500, and ambulance call charges were $35.00 plus $0.50 per mile. The original ambulance garage was constructed for $32,000 and the original per capita assessment was $1.00 per capita. Duty crew attire was navy blue or black dress pants and a light blue or white button-down shirt. In the rare occasion that the 2nd ambulance was needed, there were no dress code requirements. In 1978, we acquired our first “uniform” which was an orange, white, and blue smock with the Star of Life logo, with navy blue “bomber” jackets as our winter weather attire. Once the calls were given to the crews, they responded to the scene, picked the patient up and transported virtually everyone to Clinton Memorial Hospital. There was no radio communication with the hospital prior to arrival at the Emergency Room, which was typically staffed by a willing family practice doctor and some very capable ER nurses who truly ran the show. There were radio communication capabilities with the Sheriff’s office on the frequency shared by Animal Control. This was typically turned down or squelched out at the Jail, meaning they could call us, but we couldn’t call them. Documentation consisted of the patient’s name, address, date of birth, where we picked them up and where we dropped them off, and a typical call fee was $40.

In the mid-1990s, the Ambulance Service Board of Directors approved the addition of a Paramedic non-transport (Echo) unit to our service. This allowed Advanced Life Support (ALS) to be provided to our community members. In 2002, we became an ALS transport agency while continuing to utilize our Echo unit to rendezvous with neighboring BLS services. We were now requiring crews to be at the base, and the lack of space resulted in renting half of the County-owned building located between the original base and the hospital. This added space allowed for the original garage living space to become storage and the living quarters and offices to become relocated into our current office space. CAASA purchased this building from the County in 2014, and with our continued growth, assumed the use of the entire building in 2024.

In 2005, a restructuring of our Articles of Incorporation changed the company name to Clinton Area Ambulance Service Authority (CAASA). The focus on providing dependable quality care allowed CAASA to be chosen as the dedicated transport agency for the Clinton County Special Operations Team as well as their Special Response Team.

In 2012, CAASA applied for and was approved by the State as an EMS Continuing Education Center, allowing us to provide continuing education to EMS providers. This was upgraded to an Initial Education approved center, and a training consortium was formed that now includes all the County agencies as well as several neighboring agencies.

In 2015, CAASA pursued and was awarded one of 12 special studies for Community Paramedicine in Michigan. This program ran successfully through 2019, where a pause in the program was immediately followed by COVID-19, effectively stopping the program. The pandemic did offer CAASA another chance to shine as it played a significant role in treating and transporting many critically ill patients, providing treatments during transport usually only accomplished in the hospital, as well as partnering with the health department to provide vaccinations and monoclonal antibody treatments to homebound patients.

In 2017, an area fire department that had provided Medical First Response coverage to the area disbanded. Greenbush Township residents still felt the need for this service, and donated their Rescue truck and equipment to CAASA to provide this service and our Rescue Division was born. This service was upgraded from Medical First Response to Basic Life Support in 2023.

As a result of community growth, the need for our services continued to increase and we were outgrowing our facilities. In 2019, a new building was constructed next to our 3-bay garage to house our additional ambulances, Echo units, Rescue truck and UTV, and an enclosed 16-foot trailer containing equipment and supplies for fire scene rehab and large-scale medical emergencies.

We are a growing, thriving ambulance service supported by the communities in the north end of Clinton County, located 16 miles North of the greater Lansing area. Our fleet currently consists of four ambulances, with the ability to downgrade two ambulances to basic life support when needed and 2 Echo units. CAASA also manages a rescue division that assists our ambulances and provides medical first response service to Greenbush Township. Our providers respond to 911 calls and interfacility transports in the communities we serve. Last year, we responded to just over 4300 calls and anticipate exceeding those numbers for service in 2025. We expect 2025 to be another busy and productive year. Most noteworthy is the addition of an Assistant Director and the restructuring of our Leadership Team, as well as the reinstatement of our Community Integrated Paramedic (CIP) program. We are also making plans to complete renovations to improve this facility for our growing team, and upgrading our education program to include more specialized training.

Responding to 4,310 calls for service, including 911 and interfacility transfers.

Transporting 3,676 patients, locally and as far away as Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and even out-of-state.

Provided hundreds of hours of EMS initial education and continuing education across the County.

Provided CPR, First Aid, Bloodborne Pathogens, Narcan, and Stop the Bleed training to multiple businesses and schools.

Provided standby coverage for and participated in multiple community and school sporting events across our coverage area.

Provided mutual aid EMS responses to neighboring communities when needed.

The mission of the Clinton Area Ambulance Service Authority is to provide timely, compassionate and innovative care to our residents while exhibiting integrity and a willingness to give back to the communities that support us.