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Dixon EMS unit needs new members to remain open

— Angie Steffen 

Laurel Advocate

LAUREL — An area Emergency Medical Services team is struggling to find the additional help they need. 

Five Dixon Emergency Medical Services personnel handle all the calls for the Dixon and Concord fire districts.

Pat Bathke and Rozanne Hintz, both of Dixon, are planning to retire Jan. 1, 2021, which will put the crew below the minimum staffing requirements to provide services. 

“We need them,’’ Bathke said of the plea for more emergency responders. “If you don’t have them in a community, it is going to take longer for others to get there.’’

EMS treats 25-30 million patients per year in the United States with annual expenditures of an estimated $5 billion, according to the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians. An estimated 302,273 nationally certified emergency medical technicians operate in the United States, Nebraska claims 3,270 of those responders.

According to The Journal of Emergency Medical Services, the capability to provide adequate pre-hospital care to citizens in need across the country has become greatly diminished. 

The current staffing shortages in EMS have taxed the response system, increased response times and left patients without adequate levels of care. This problem will continue until everyone is made aware of the problem and measures are taken to stave off impending disaster, national research shows.

Many studies across the country have attempted to figure out a solution.

Specifically, a 2008 study performed by the North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center brought to light many of the issues faced in North Carolina that could easily be expanded to encompass the entire nation. According to this research, only 50 percent of EMS services in 2008 were fully staffed, of which, more than 63 percent had a volunteer component as part of their staffing level.

“This is a nationwide trend. It’s difficult finding volunteers,’’ said Kevin Garvin, who works as Cedar County’s emergency management coordinator, but lives in Dixon. 

He serves as president of the Emergency Medical Services crew. 

“A couple of departments around us are having good luck finding volunteers. Laurel and Wakefield are having no problem finding people. We are going to try advertising at our pancake feed. We’ve also put the need on social media with no hits. We sent out 200 letters and got one response.’’

Garvin joined the EMS crew in 1992 and became an EMT in 1993.  Garvin is also an EMS instructor. 

He teaches a 60-hour class that allows individuals to become emergency medical responders. Individuals who wish to expand their knowledge can take a 160-hour course to become an emergency medical technician. Every two years individuals must take 20 hours of training to remain certified on the state level and 40 hours of training every two years for national training.

Classes are available at Northeast Community College in Norfolk. When four or five community members want to receive training, the class can be conducted in their community. 

Garvin said he joined the EMS crew to give back to the community.

“You become someone who is trained to come when someone needs help. There is nothing better than knowing that you saved someone’s life. You’re there to make a difference. The outcome would be certain death without someone responding to a call,” he said.

It takes a lot of hard word and dedication to become an EMT, but it is all worth it, Garvin said.

“It’s a lot of hard work when you begin. It will be well worth it. It’s a good thing to do and a good experience,’’ Garvin said of becoming an EMS member. 

The education will not only help community members in need, but it will also help people in their day-to-day lives, Garvin said.

“Folks can use the training in their daily lives. People have said they were able to help their family members and didn’t need to call 911,” he said. “It’s not something you just use when the pager goes off. It’s giving back to the community. It is very rewarding and it’s a feeling like no other.’’

Equipment individuals use depends upon their training level, according to Garvin. The higher level of training that an individual completes the more equipment they can use.

Helping people is also the reason that Bathke started with the EMS crew. She began when the EMS crew started in the 1980’s. 

“There was a need so we decided to get the group started,’’ she said. “Quite a few people took classes. Not many stuck with it.’’

According to Bathke, the training is very time consuming. She said she feels this might keep some people from becoming responders. “Sometimes you do get called out in the middle of the night,’’ she said. Her husband, LeRoy, was also on the squad until he retired from work.”We went on many calls together,’’ she said. 

Her favorite class as an EMS responder was the basic instruction including learning about breathing and circulation. The hardest class for her was the accident victim course. She said the hardest call that she went on was one when two people died.

“You’re always learning new things. It’s always different. You never know what comes next,’’ she said. 

Another retiring responder, Hintz has 24 years of service to the EMS squad. She and her husband Jack live in Dixon. She said Jack knows that when she gets a call it’s her job.

“Sometimes supper is on the stove when I get a call. I’ve had calls several times when I’ve had company,’’ she said. “You don’t know when you’ll be called. If we would get enough people trained, we could say, ‘This is your night.’’ and know when to expect a call. We used to have enough people to do that.’’

She said being on the squad makes you really feel a part of the community. She said the feeling of camaraderie among people who take care of each other is what she enjoys about her role as an EMT. She said they talk together and get together at the pancake feed.

“I am a nurse and so my neighbor kept coming over to my house to tell me I should be on the squad,’’ Hintz said. “I took the classes as I like to help. I took two or three classes a month.’’

“Things happen,’’ Hintz said of emergency calls. “The emergency skills training can help you anywhere. It can even help you with your own family. You never know where you are and what you might be doing that you might need the training.’’  

“In the long run, people will feel they are doing something for their community,’’ she said of EMS volunteering opportunities. 

Northeast Nebraska News Company

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