A new regional emergency medical services district serving about 10,000 people in the New Glarus and Belleville area is being formally introduced Monday, with local leaders calling it a long-term plan to strengthen ambulance service, improve response capacity and bring more public oversight to EMS. A press conference has been called for noon today in Belleville to formally roll out the new district and introduce its new name and logo. The new entity will be known as Sugar River EMS District.

For New Glarus, the launch marks the end of months of planning and the start of a new 10-year intergovernmental partnership that local officials say is designed to improve sustainability, training and public safety as rural EMS systems face mounting pressure across Wisconsin.