Since September 11th, 1977, Fitch-Rona EMS had been providing emergency medical services to the cities of Fitchburg, Verona, and the Verona Township. The department started and ran as an all volunteer service for 10 years until 1987.

It didn’t take long for the communities to want a higher level of care for its citizens and in 1983, work began to increase the level of service provided to the communities. In 1985, Fitch-Rona became the first EMT-Intermediate service in the state of Wisconsin.

In order to continue to meet the demands of a growing service, the first full-time employee was hired in August of 1987. At the time, Fitch-Rona EMS was running out of a house with an attached garage, donated by Nicolet Instruments.

With the completion of Fitchburg Fire Station #2 in 1994, Fitch-Rona EMS moved into its new quarters and a total of 4 full-time EMT-I’s and a part-time office manager made up the staff of Fitch-Rona EMS. In that year, Fitch-Rona ran 894 calls.

The continued growth in the area, together with the desire for a higher level of service, prompted the communities to move to the next level. The municipal councils voted to take emergency services in the District to the highest level of pre-hospital care.  On July 1st, 2001, Fitch-Rona became a Paramedic level service, employing 8 full-time Paramedics, a full-time Chief of EMS, and ¾ time Office Manager.

Less than a year later, a second ambulance was put into service during the day, to provide even more emergency resources to the communities. In January of 2005 additional paramedics were hired to staff the second ambulance full time. The station in Verona was manned full time beginning in April, 2006.

In addition to 14 full-time paramedics, Fitch-Rona employs 8 part-time paramedics and a dedicated group of volunteer paramedics.

In 2003, Fitch-Rona EMS ran 2,060 calls. That’s more than 2 ½ times what was done only 10 years ago. With the support of the citizens of our communities, the staff and crews here at Fitch-Rona will continue to provide the best care to meet the medical needs of our communities.

In 2006 our call volume increased to 2234 and is on course to meet or exceed 2500 calls in 2008.

Thank You to all those who help support us- The Staff, Crews, and Volunteers at Fitch-Rona EMS