Our Viewpoint: You don't need it, but then you do

You don't need a plumber, until you do. You don't need a cup of sugar, until you do. You don't need an ambulance, until you do.

We had a scare in our family last week which required my dad to take a trip to the hospital. My parents live between Thompson Falls and Trout Creek. Like many areas of Sanders County, you're at least 15 minutes from anywhere.

The Thompson Falls Ambulance arrived quickly and got my dad to the hospital where he received excellent care. He is on the mend and everything will be fine.

Every day when I drive out to my parents' or even to the post office, I notice the silly saying on the board outside the Thompson Falls Ambulance barn. I also notice the cars there nearly every time of day. I notice when they are having their meetings and cleaning the ambulances. Each day I take time to pay attention as I drive by, I'm thankful that the volunteers are there. And each time someone close to me needs their services, I'm even more grateful.

Like every organization, the local ambulance services go through waves of needing volunteers. Needing help is kind of like needing ice cream, you can never have too much. When my family needed help last week, it made my heart happy to see that there were new people volunteering with the ambulance since the last time we needed them.

What I've learned in my years of volunteering is that someone will always step up. This week I'm thankful to those who volunteer for those critical services every community needs. Many aging people will move to a larger city to be nearer to medical providers when it gets to the point that you are making multiple trips a week to Missoula, Kalispell or further for appointments.

Thanks to those who volunteer every day to keep all of us safe and provide services so we can continue to live in our great small towns.

— Annie Wooden