ON LIFE SUPPORT

It’s usually trained volunteers that provide life support to those in need of medical help. But what happens when the service itself ends up on life support?

That’s the critical issue facing the Blooming Prairie Ambulance service. While the service isn’t on the verge of going away just yet, it may be only a matter of time before it becomes a reality.

“We’re not quite at that point,” said Dan Peach, a Blooming Prairie police officer who also volunteers as an EMT. “But if we lose more people, I don’t know how we would survive. We really need people to volunteer if Blooming Prairie wants to continue an ambulance service. It could be taken away if we don’t get volunteers.”

Last year, at least five medical emergencies resulted in no one responding from the Blooming Prairie service, according to Peach. Instead, ambulances were dispatched from Austin or Owatonna, resulting in longer response times.

Currently, the service has 15 EMTs, which has been about the average over the past 10 years. The service would like to add at least 10 new members in the coming months. “We’ll take as many as we can get,” Peach said.

The service is trying to proactively plan for the future. Several of the current EMTs are pushing the 20-year mark and will be looking to retire in the next few years. Another issue is scheduling around the work schedules of EMTs. Most of them have regular full-time jobs with many of them working out of town.

Burn out also becomes a key consideration. “We want to prevent burn out of our EMTs,” said Peach.

In an effort to beef up its ranks, the ambulance has launched an aggressive recruitment campaign this week. The service has sent out a direct mailer to every household in the Blooming Prairie area making a plea for volunteers. Included in the packet is an easy one-page application form.

For the first time ever, the local service is adding first responders, also known as emergency medical responder. First responders are one level below an EMT. Peach said first responders will be utilized to drive the ambulances while EMTs provide patient care in the back of the rig.

“We’ve never had a big push like this before,” Peach said, noting the service is recruiting for both first responders and EMTs. “There is an EMS shortage across the state. All rural communities are facing this crisis,” he said.

Ideal candidates for the volunteer service would be stay-at-home moms with kids in school during the day, recent retirees or registered nurses who can test out of the EMT class.

Peach said first responders will have some medical knowledge but will not be expected to provide primary medical care. The plan is to have each medical run staffed with a first responder and EMT.

Adding first responders is a good way for people to measure their interest in volunteering with the ambulance service, Peach said. He added their hope would be to eventually train them as EMTs.

The current response time in Blooming Prairie is 8 minutes during daytime hours and 12 minutes during the overnight hours, according to Peach. The alternative of going without an ambulance isn’t particularly attractive. Peach said without an ambulance in Blooming Prairie, patients needing medical help would have to wait up to 20 minutes for an ambulance to come from either Austin or Owatonna.

The Blooming Prairie service responded to 300 medical emergencies last year, down from the average of 350 per year. The highest number of calls was 426 in 2018.

Peach hopes people will step up and want to join the ambulance crew. “You get to help those who are in need when they may be having the worst day of their life,” he said. “It’s all about giving back to the community and helping people in need.”