LOCAL AMBULANCE SERVICES

Minneapolis General purchased its first motorized ambulance in 1911. Emergency Ambulance, Inc. began operation in 1913.

Smith Ambulance was started on or before 1935 by Harry Smith, a Brookside resident who built and lived at 4144 Xenwood with his wife Virginia. Smith Ambulance was headquartered at 2100 Lyndale.  [The internet gives us a book by a Harry L. Smith, M.D., Memoirs of an Ambulance Company Officer, written in 1940 about his experience as an ambulance driver in WWI.  Could this be our Harry?]

The competition between Emergency Ambulance and Smith was apparently quite intense - Emergency Ambulance's 1938 ad warned, "DO NOT EXPERIMENT with makeshift transportation when sick, injured, convalescing." In those days, ambulances just transported people - there was no concept of medics, paramedics or EMTs.

Smith Ambulance was bought by Martin Auto Livery in 1972. Martin Hense had started his company in 1920, and had hearses, limos, and ambulances in his stable. The two companies kept their names, and Smith generally covered the area south of Highway 12. The Smith name went out when Smith went bankrupt in 1981 and was transferred to Hennepin County. In May 1982 it was sold to Health One and the service became known as MedPlus. In the 1980’s and ‘90’s, there were many mergers and many changes in the industry.



 

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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.