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Ness County Emergency Medical Services is an ambulance service located in Ness City, KS and Ransom, KS. We offer both emergent and non-emergent ambulance services to the public. Our team of trained professionals is dedicated to providing the best care to our patients. We also provide assistance to the Sheriff's office, Fire Department, and local school activities.

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Ness County is home to two volunteer ambulance services: North Ness County EMS and South Ness County EMS. North Ness County EMS serves the surrounding towns of Utica, Arnold, Ransom, Brownell, and all rural areas from the Lane County to Rush County line along State Highway 4, as well as covering the northern Trego County area. South Ness County EMS covers from the Country Club to the southern bordering counties of Hodgeman and Pawnee, along with the residents in rural areas of Beeler, Ness City, and Bazine from the Lane County line to the Rush Country Line. This is approximately 260 square miles and 550 citizens. 

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North Ness County EMS is based out of a single station in Ransom, KS and staffs one unit with 13 volunteers. Their staff is a mixture of EMTs, AEMTs, and RNs. North Ness County was established in 1977 and have an average of 100 calls per year. 

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South Ness County EMS, also known as Ness County EMS operates 2 units out of Ness City. Ness County EMS began in the early 1970's. The first service was owned by Bryan and Joel Fitzgerald who also owned the Fitzgerald Funeral Home. 

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Ness County covers an area of approximately 30 miles x 30 miles. According to the 2020 census, our county includes roughly 1,075 square miles of land and 0.3 square miles of water. The 2020 census reported the county population total as 2,687 residents. The per capita income for Ness County is $17,787 with the median household income being $32,340. Of our population, 8.7% are considered below poverty level. Twenty-three percent of our residents are less than age eighteen years of age and twenty-four percent of our residents are older than 65 years of age. Ness County has seven towns ranging in population from 142 to 1,329, spread over 1,075 square miles. The area is further divided into ten townships.

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The topography of Ness County varies. Approximately three quarters of our county has dryland crops, native pasture, and CRP. There are areas of the county that contain canyons, gullies, and rough terrain. We also have areas of the county that contain small creek beds that have heavy brush and dry timber. This provides a challenge when dealing with emergencies such as wildfires. Ness County has been in an extended drought period for the last several years. We continue to be in the E4-extreme drought category. Surrounding counties are also listed in the E4 category for drought. Ness County provides mutual aid to south Trego, south Gove, east Lane, west Rush, southwest Ellis, northeast Finney, north Hodgeman, and north Pawnee Counties.

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The county is served by 1 Sheriff’s Office with ten officers, two CAH hospitals, two EMS stations, three Fire districts and two township fire departments. The county departments work together closely and provide mutual aid assistance as well as being involved in planning through our local LEPC.

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Our communities depend heavily on farming, ranching, and the oil industry for support and volunteers. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find funds, resources, and volunteer personnel to provide adequate safety and services for our population. 

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The largest fire district in Ness County is Fire District #1 which includes Ness City and Beeler. Fire District #1 has 28 volunteer firemen. They have four wildland trucks based in Ness City and two trucks are stationed at Beeler. In 2022, Ness Fire District #1 responded to 48 emergency calls. Twenty-nine calls were to wildland fires in Ness County. We also provided eleven mutual aid assists with other units in Ness, Trego, Hodgeman, and Lane Counties.

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Ness County Fire District #2 responded to 10 grassfires and 2 structure fires in 2022. Ness County EMS provided standby support for each of the fires. Ness County Fire District #3 responded to an average of 27 calls per year and Ness EMS provided standby assists for all of these fire calls. Waring Township Fire Department (Brownell) responded to 7 fires during 2022 and Ness County EMS remained on standby alert for assistance if needed. Nevada Township Fire Department (Ransom) responded to 7 mutual aid fires and 8 grass fires during 2022. Ness County EMS provided standby support for all of these fires.

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In summary, Ness County EMS provided standby assistance for 109 fire calls for all of Ness County fire services during 2022. Responses included standby, as well as treatment of firefighters and bystanders at various scenes. Due to the extended drought, we anticipate the number of calls to continue to require Ness County EMS assistance at scenes.