November 2013 marks an important milestone for Vital Link – thirty years of serving the community as a dependable and high quality emergency medical service.
As a result of a young life that was taken too soon, concerned citizens and health care professionals who recognized the need for high quality and dependable emergency medical services for Independence County, began to raise funds to purchase the existing for-profit ambulance service.
These funds were used to establish Independence County Emergency Medical Services, a non-profit Basic Life Support ambulance service in November 1983. Dedicated employees and Board of Directors persevered through struggles and pulled together to better serve their community they cared so much about and became an Advanced Life Support ambulance service in 1992.
Looking to the future, Independence County Emergency Medical Services’ name was changed to Vital Link, as it best represented the vital services provided by linking people to other health care providers. Since that time, Vital Link’s service area has expanded to include Stone County in 1999 and Izard County in 2010. Over its thirty years of distinguished service, Vital Link has been recognized twice as the Arkansas Ambulance Service of the Year, received an Arkansas Economic Development Award in addition to multiple community awards, is home to more than one former Arkansas and National Paramedic of the Year, Arkansas Medical Director of the Year as well as maintained continual accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services since 2003.
Vital Link is a nonprofit public benefit corporation that has provided ambulance services in North Central Arkansas since 1983. Vital Link currently serves Independence, Izard, and Stone Counties. In addition to emergency and medical transportation, Vital Link also offers ambulance service memberships, pre-employment and random employee drug testing, EMS billing services, and emergency vehicle maintenance and repair; contact the Business Office at (870)793-3351 for more information Vital Link is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services, one of only four CAAS accredited services in Arkansas and one of over one hundred and forty accredited ambulance services in the entire country.
