Mayor Windham News Today

Today, Rural Pickens County in Alabama has just one ambulance station to serve the area's 20,000 residents.

CARROLLTON, Ala. — Annie Jackson can’t know whether her sister Grena Prude might have survived had an ambulance been more readily available when she went into cardiac arrest on May

CARROLLTON, Ala. — Annie Jackson can’t know whether her sister Grena Prude might have survived had an ambulance been more readily available when she went into cardiac arrest on May

Annie Jackson cant know whether her sister, Grena Prude, might have survived had an ambulance been more readily available when she went into cardiac arrest May 10. But Jackson is convinced her sister would have at least had a chance.

No local hospital and anemic ambulance services mean residents in rural Pickens County, Alabama, are thrown into perilous situations when they have medical emergencies.

CARROLLTON, Ala. — Annie Jackson can’t know whether her sister Grena Prude might have survived had an ambulance been more readily available when she went into cardiac arrest on May

No local hospital and anemic ambulance services mean residents in rural Pickens County, Alabama, are thrown into perilous situations when they have medical emergencies. It’s a kind of medical care roulette that has become a fact of life for rural Americans who live in ambulance deserts.

Annie Jackson can't know whether her sister Grena Prude might have survived had an ambulance been more readily available when she went into cardiac arrest on May 10.

In rural areas where hospitals have shuttered, the nearest surviving facilities are long drives away, and ambulance coverage is sparse.

Millions of Americans live more than a 25-minute drive from the nearest ambulance station — and it can be a matter of life or death.