BELLE FOURCHE—June 14 welcomed a new Mini Exhibit that honors the History of Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Opening day invited visitors to come see the display and enjoy refreshments and cupcakes made by the Red Onion Marketplace.
The new display hits close to home for Tri-State Museum’s Jada Udager, Collections Archivist. She spent many years as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). As an archivist it is common for her to gather all of the artifacts to be placed on display in the Museum’s various exhibits. This time is no different, but this time, for the display she was able to draw from her own background. “I was an EMT for 11 years,” she shared. “My son is a critical care paramedic so I used his stuff and mine for a lot of it!”
The Museum has a history of doing displays that honor public servants. “We did a firefighter display in the Mini and we did law enforcement so we figured we might as well keep going and do an EMS one,” said Udager.
In an effort to show thanks to EMS workers that may be passing through the area, there is a sign in the display asking EMS workers to let the Museum know. The staff will then take a picture of the visitor in front of the display with the hopes of posting it on Facebook and publicly thanking the EMS visitor for their service.
So far, there has been a handful of EMS workers stop by the exhibit. Visitors from as far away as New York and New Jersey have gotten their picture in front of the display. “It’s been really good,” explained Udager. “There was two of them that I was here for and they thought it was absolutely amazing!”
Stop by the Mini Exhibit at Tri-State Museum and learn about different types of ambulances, the differences between American EMS and other countries, what EMTs and paramedics do and the history of emergency medical services along with much more educational information.
For the kids there is a packet of information about EMS along with games, word searches, mazes and coloring pages. There are a few books available for kids to read and learn.
The EMS Mini Exhibit is scheduled to run through September 17, 2025.
