The Spring River Paramedic Ambulance Service (SRPAS) was recently recognized by the Arkansas Ambulance Association as the Advanced Life Support Service of the year.
According to General Manager Bart Schulz it has been a banner year for the service as they have spent 2025 celebrating 50 years of service.
“We were founded in 1974 and made our first run in march of 1975 as Cherokee Village Ambulance Service. This year we were recognized by the Arkansas Ambulance Association as the Advanced Life Support Service of the year in Arkansas,” Schulz said. Advanced Life Support is used as the terminology used for the highest level of care offered in the nation and we’re very proud of that.”
Pictured is the first award from 1991 when the service was Cherokee Village Ambulance Service and the most recent award as Spring River Paramedic Ambulance Service.
Although this is the first state-wide recognition the service has received this year, it is not the first time the service has brough home accolades.
“In 1991 when we won Basic Life Support Service of the Year and we were at a lower level of care which was common back then. That’s when we were still Cherokee Village Ambulance Service, but the standard of care has changed so much, the technology has changed so much, I could talk for days about it,” Schulz said. “From cardiac interventions to the types of drugs; all of the things, it’s amazing to think about the transition from them to now.”
In 1992, they also received the National Basic Life Support Service of the Year award which was no small feat, especially given the demographics and logistics of their service area.
“We work so hard here everyday to be the best ambulance service we can be whether were covering 500 or 50,000 people. Spring River punches above its weight class and we have for several years now,” Schulz said. “There is no service in the State of Arkansas that offers a higher standard of care, better equipment, better ambulances. we are right there with every one of them.”
When asked about the criteria viewed by the selection committee, Schulz said it ranges from longevity to community involvement.
“One thing that helped is it is our 50th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of the Arkansas EMT Association. They really made a big deal, because not many ambulance services have existed for 50 years in Arkansas. You can count them on one hand,” Schulz said. “For example, Pafford EMS in Hope, who are now in five to six states are a little older than we are and MEMS in Little Rock is just a shade younger than we are.”
From its inception, Schulz credited the founders and volunteers for their vision and drive to help facilitate the success of the service.
“In the first 20 years of our service there were well over 300 volunteers that worked at this service. Our service is built on a foundation that was built by many professionals before we came and I hope we’re honoring what they envisioned,” Schulz said. “We want to be the best, to provide the best care and best coverage possible. Nobody gets it right every time, and it may take a few minutes for us to get to you, but we live in the longest county in the state of Arkansas. Logistically, this is a hard area to cover, and we’ve been doing it for 50 years. Its not perfect but we try hard every day and if we see a problem we fix it and make it better.”
Lauren is a an award-winning journalist who decided after 10 years of newspaper experience to venture out. Hallmark Times was born.
