$500,000 federal contract Rural EMS contract awarded to Bozeman firms Earthtalk Studios and Critical Illness and Trauma Foundation

Earthtalk Studios http://www.earthtalk.com/ and the nonprofit Critical Illness and Trauma Foundation http://www.citmt.org/index2.htm of Bozeman recently joined forces and received a $500,000 federal contract.

By KAYLEY MENDENHALL Chronicle Staff Writer

The two firms will work together to create a "Technical Assistance Center" for rural ambulance and other emergency medical services. The physical center will be based in Bozeman out of the CIT office and Earthtalk Studios will create an interactive Web site as part of the project.

The goal of the center is to be a resource for training, financial and operating information for rural EMS providers.

"Earthtalk and CIT have been working together for the better part of a decade," said Nels Sanddal, director of CIT. "We’ve made training materials for rural EMS providers including interactive CD roms and Web-based training programs."

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Earthtalk Studios

2504 W. Main, Suite L

Bozeman, MT, 59718

[email protected]

1-800-798-9980

406 / 587-1456

http://www.earthtalk.com/

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Critical Illness & Trauma Foundation

300 N. Willson, Suite 3002

Bozeman, Montana 59715

phone 406.585.2659

fax 406. 585.2741

General Information: [email protected]

Webmaster: [email protected]

http://www.citmt.org/index2.htm

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When the opportunity for the contract came up through the U.S. Office of Rural Health Policy, Sanddal said it was only offered to small businesses so his nonprofit group couldn’t apply on its own.

"Earthtalk was a natural partner," he said. Earthtalk is a multimedia company specializing in Web site design. CIT has 17 years of experience working in the field of rural health care, especially critical illness and trauma care.

As part of the contract, Sanddal will become the center’s director and CIT will be doing a search for a new executive director to replace him. He said CIT and Earthtalk are looking for opportunities to either share a space or be located next door to each other.

If the federal government is pleased with the job done by the new center and funding levels remain the same, Sanddal said he expects to receive at least $500,000 each year for the first three years.

Rural EMS departments are often managed and operated by volunteers who have difficulty recruiting and retaining workers. Sanddal said they are also typically not savvy about financial matters and aren’t always fully reimbursed for services.

"Other public safety services, including law enforcement and fire, have long enjoyed a broader base of fiscal support from local government entities than has EMS per se," Sanddal said. "We really need to find ways those local services can be fully integrated into," the community.

The center will provide resources to rural EMS systems throughout the country. Earthtalk and CIT plan to have the center up and running within the next three months.

"Earthtalk Studios is excited about the opportunity to apply what we have learned about the development of interactive Web sites to the important lifesaving issues of rural and frontier EMS," said Dan Smith, owner of Earthtalk, in a prepared statement. "We have collaborated with CIT on the development of a number of EMS related training and information products so the partnership was a natural extension of that relationship."

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2003/10/13/news/02grantbzbigs.txt