Letters to the editorQRU proves plenty of service to West Shore

The Lakeside Quick Response Unit has just finished their 28th year serving the upper West Shore and Lower Valley community. We were dispatched to 242 emergency calls during the year, an 8 percent increase over the previous year. Every year we are called to a variety of emergency situations.

This past year we responded quickly, in the dead of night, to the home of an elderly patient who fell and just needed assistance getting up. We were also the first responders and worked for hours at the scene of a serious boating accident at the base of a rocky cliff on the shore of Flathead Lake where the initial access was only from the water.

As our community grows the demand for emergency services increases and the Lakeside QRU is committed to grow too.

Our recruiting efforts have helped increase our membership to 23 responders with several potential members currently working on their training.

Last fall we acquired a new/used Chevy Tahoe and outfitted it with lights, siren, graphics, radio, and emergency medical equipment. It helps serve the outlying parts of our district as a quick response vehicle and as a back-up when the ambulance is on another call or transporting a patient to the hospital.

Our efforts to work toward a new QRU hall in Lakeside continue. We are getting closer to finalizing plans to acquire land and begin construction of a facility that will meet the needs of our growing community and the QRU long into the future.

We are also hoping the new hall can serve some of the need in Lakeside for a new community meeting place.

We would like to thank everyone for their past support and remind you that tax deductable financial contributions are always greatly appreciated and used responsibly to serve the community.

Donations can be sent to: Lakeside QRU, Inc.

PO Box 911

Lakeside, MT 59922

Steve Rosso, QRU President