In the early 1960's the Lincoln Lions' Club bought the first ambulance for Lincoln from Shelby Montana. It was a true ambulance, a black Buick that a registered nurse often rode in it, rode well. This ambulance eventually broke down at the Deaconess Hospital(now known at Benifits Hospital) in Great Falls while Bob Orr was driving it on an emergency run. The next ambulance was a Chevy Suburban, orangy red with a big red cross painted on the sides. It had to be outfitted as an ambulance. Everyone in the community chipped in a few dollars to buy this vehicle. Lincoln had this ambulance until 1972. The next ambulance was a 1961 Pontiac that had belonged to Civil Defense. It was a real ambulance with all new equipment. After its service in Lincoln, this ambulance was given to the town of Alzada, Montana, where in 1993 it was still being used. A Dodge van fitted as a true ambulance was used next. However, the Department of Health and Environment Services helped Lincoln get a grant for a Chevy van ambulance. As part of this agreement Lincoln agreed to give the Dodge van to Augusta, Montana. In 1991 the ambulance service had enough money to get a new Ford Chassis onto which they put the old ambulance box. The ambulance crew that serves Lincoln is all volunteer. In 1993 there were nine Emergency Medical Technicians and three first response crew members with basic first aid knowledge who were working towards being Emergency Medical Technicians. The ambulance service is community owned and depends on payment by the patients who need the services. Peters Hospital donated a Used Chevy ambulance to the Lincoln Community. That ambulance served the community until 2003, when the ambulance was sold to a ski lodge. In 2002, the ambulance service took out a $90,000 dollar loan for a new 4x4 ford ambulance. After making only 1 payment to the bank, a large donation was made to the service allowing the ambulance to be paid off. That ambulance is currently still being used today. In 2005, the service decided to get a back up ambulance because of call volumes, however that was a 1989 2 wheel drive ambulance that had a lot of issues. In 2012, the ambulance received a Montana DOT grant for $140,000 dollars and was able get a new Ambulance to replace the 1989 second ambulance. That ambulance was donated to Avon QRU as a response vehicle and is in use today. In 2012, The Lincoln Volunteer Ambulance Moved out of the Lincoln Fire Dept, building because of overcrowding and was able to lease the Old Parker Medical Building west of town and build our own Garage. Some people believe that the Lincoln Volunteer Ambulance is part of the Lincoln Rural Fire Department, but this is not the Case. We do have a close working relationship together but two separate Entities..
