For more than a half-century, Bell's Ambulance Service has been serving northern Sonoma County, including going to medical emergencies on the steep, winding road into the Dry Creek Rancheria near Geyserville.
At one time the road wasn't paved, but "they never blinked an eye," said Tribal Chairman Harvey Hopkins.
"They've been up and down that road before there was a road," he said. ""They never said, &‘there's a chuckhole,' and wouldn't go over it.
That loyal service was rewarded Thursday when the tribe, which owns River Rock Casino, gave Bell's a new, state-of-the-art ambulance valued at about $80,000.
The ambulance will serve more than the reservation, where thousands of people have gambled every week at slots and card games since the casino opened in 2002.
It also will be employed in calls in Windsor, Healdsburg, Geyserville and surrounding areas.
Officials at Healdsburg District Hospital, as well as Healdsburg city officials, expressed their appreciation for the donation.
"This shows the ongoing commitment and investment the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians and the River Rock Entertainment Authority make in this community and in health care," said Evan Rayner, chief executive of the North Sonoma County Healthcare District.
Hopkins acknowledged that the gift is part of the obligation the tribe has under its compact with the state to share some of the casino revenues with community groups and non-profits.
The tribe previously had committed to a donation of $1.8 million, paid out in $30,000 monthly increments to a women's health center at Healdsburg District Hospital.
North County Supervisor Mike McGuire said Bell's ambulances are nicknamed "green lightning" for their distinctive color.
"Thank you for stepping in and helping one of the last ma and pa emergency services providers in the state," he told Hopkins and tribal council leaders.
Bell's has a fleet of four vehicles and brings patients to the Healdsburg hospital about three times every day, Rayner said.
The ambulance company handles more than 2,700 calls a year, but only a few times every month at the casino, tribal spokesman Dave Hyams said.
Most of the ambulance calls there involve heart attacks and strokes, he said. The casino also has its own full-time, emergency medical technicians and relies on assistance from the Geyserville fire department.
"The tribe and casino didn't just offer us an ambulance. They asked us how we want it built," said Pamela Bell Simmons, the owner of Bell's whose parents started the company in 1956.
She said the ambulance has a special stability system for patient comfort.
The 2012 Sprinter, van-style ambulance is equipped with a fuel-efficient, Mercedes diesel engine — "as clean burning as they get," said manufacture's representative Steve De la Montanya.
It can handle as many as three patients at once in the event of a major traffic accident or other incident; has brighter lights for for driver safety; and special hygiene features.
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