Lincoln County Ambulance District was formed on February 20th, 1974 and was operated by local funeral homes as a BLS (basic life support) district. The district grew to 9 full time employees and 3 part time employees manning two ambulances throughout  the 1970’s.

In 1982 LCAD evolved into providing ALS (advanced life support) care for residents and added a base in Elsberry along with a full time crew (6 more employees). The Elsberry base was later upgraded to the present one. The base houses one 911 ambulance, Medic 3.

In 1996 the 911 Dispatching System was established. Previously, EMS crews took their own emergency calls. This switch to a 911 system greatly reduced response time of the ambulance.

December 1999, the current Troy base was erected. The base currently houses two 911 ambulances  Medic 1 and Medic 2. The Battalion Chief also responds from this location.

November 2000, Winfield Base was added along with the Lead Paramedic position (now called the Battalion Chief) to help decrease response time and assist the medic unit on life threatening calls. This new base also led to more full time employees. Housing one 911 ambulance, Medic 4.

November 2004, Auburn Base was established with a full time crew.  Housing one 911 ambulance, Medic 5.

As of 2019 the District employs 35 Full-time Paramedics/EMT’s that staff 5, 911 ambulances in 4 bases which includes one Battalion Chief per shift. The District also has a Chief Administrator, Deputy Chief of Operations, a Chief Medical Officer, an Office and Benefits Administrator and a part time Administrative Secretary. We also employ 40 part time paramedics and EMTs to help fill in for vacations and sick time. This reduces overtime costs.

LCAD covers approximately 630 square miles, all of Lincoln County.  We average 7,100 calls per year. Due to long transport times each call averages 1.5 hours, although It is not unheard of for calls to last over 3 hours.

We are currently using the same bases and number of ambulances we had in 2004 when the call volume was less than 4,000 calls per year.