Group hopes to level playing field in race against time

Kris Nelson, Ashley Dake partner to create countywide first responder group

Seconds matter.

During an emergency situation, the clock is always ticking.

There are mountains of statistics that show the faster treatment is started the better the outcomes will be and how even a short period of time can be the difference between life and death.

Ashley Dake is a first responder. She has more than a decade of service as a first responder and is also affiliated with the Stetsonville Fire Department, where she and her husband are also firefighters. She knows what it is like to be first on the scene, to assess the situation, start lifesaving care to get a patient stabilized and relay vital information to the ambulance crews.

Dake is also a member of the Taylor County Ambulance service where she works as an emergency medical technician. She knows the realties that it takes time to get from the station to an emergency scene and that information about what to expect and prepare for is vital.

She has seen first-hand what happens when the clock runs out on an emergency scene. Like all those who work in emergency medical services, second-guesses what the outcomes might have been had they been able to start care just a little bit sooner.

In an ideal world, an ambulance would be on scene to an accident or medical issue within five to six minutes of a call. Simple geography, compounded by road conditions and weather work against this happening.

Taylor County has a relatively small population spread over a large amount of space. No matter how fast an ambulance drives, it still takes time to get from the station to an accident or emergency scene.

Dake along with fellow responder Kris Nelson want to help reduce the time between when an emergency happens and when treatment begins for everyone in Taylor County, regardless of where they live, work or play. Nelson and Dake have partnered to found Taylor County First Responders.

Taylor County currently has three active first responder groups. Nelson and Dake are part of the Stetsonville First Responders and are able to respond to calls in that department’s coverage area. Northeast Taylor County including the Rib Lake area have another first responder group which can only respond in those areas. Jump River has a very strong first responder group, but again they are limited to responding within their designated areas.

“This leaves huge service gaps where they don’t overlap,” Nelson said.

This shortfall has hit home for Dake when she was at home and a call came across her emergency radio. There was a medical emergency and she knew it was nearby. Unfortunately, it was just outside the service area boundaries and she was unable to respond.

Dake and Nelson, two of the three active Stetsonville First Responders discussed this shortfall in coverage. What if, they thought, there was a county-wide first responder organization.

This was the start of the Taylor County First Responders. They have spent months doing the legwork of getting a medical director, going through the licensing protocols and all the hoops necessary to getting a county-wide responder service up and running.

The process of starting a first responder organization normally takes two years to complete. They completed in seven months. This is a feat that has gained them attention within the broader state and national front-line out-of-hospital care community.

It is important to understand what a first responder is, and what it is not.

A first responder is a volunteer who goes through a minimum of six weeks of training to be able to respond to medical emergencies. Responders do not get paid. They do not charge for their services. They carry their gear with them in their vehicles and have their radios on ready to respond when needed.

On the scene they can begin treatment, open airways, administer oxygen, use an AED or perform CPR and a host of other tasks to provide immediate needed care. They also assess the patient’s condition, the scene and other information and share that with the ambulance crew that is, hopefully, already on its way.

On the scene they can work to get a patient stabilized so that when the ambulance crew arrives, they load and go. Like a runner handing off a baton, when the ambulance crew arrives, they pass off patient care to the next level of providers to do their job. Often, they will remain on the scene assisting with family members, or even just being the familiar face who crawled through the broken glass of the car to hold the patient’s hand while firefi ghters work to extricate them. While first responders serve an important role, both Nelson and Dake emphasize that they do not replace the need for an ambulance service. Responders are not allowed within their licensing to transport patients. Nor is it the goal to be in any sort of competition.

All emergency medical providers share in the common goal of doing what is best for the patients. Their reward is in seeing the positive outcomes and averting tragedy.

Nelson and Dake also are quick to note that their purpose in forming the new organization is to fill in the gaps rather than being seen to replace existing groups. Nelson said he would just as soon see people be members of both their local and the county-wide responder group and would not want to disrupt already-strong organizations.

“The goal is to have someone with at least an EMR license training and equipment at a scene in under 10 minutes,” Nelson said. Currently some towns don’t have any responders.

Nelson dreams of recruiting enough first responders to have at least two in every township in the county to provide rapid response wherever an incident may occur.

Dake noted that a strong first-responder group can feed in to address other EMS staffing issues. She explains that being a first responder can allow someone to get hands-on experience in emergency medical services without making a massive commitment in time and expense to go through additional training to get licensing to being on an ambulance crew or having to take set shifts.

Funding

It costs about $5,500 to outfit a first responder with a radio, AED, oxygen tank and a basic pack of medical equipment and supplies. As volunteers who do not bill for their services or get paid for responding, it is important to do fundraising and seek grants to help cover the start-up and operational costs.

Nelson and Dake have been busy researching and applying for grants and seeking donations. Taylor County First Responders is a 501c3 charitable organization.

Their goal is to have Taylor County First Responders to roll out in January and are doing what they can now to make that start up as smooth as possible. Soon they will begin recruiting in earnest and look to have enough recruits to have a class in Medford at Northcentral Technical College rather than having people have to travel for classes.

Those interested in learning more about becoming a Taylor County First Responder or helping the group may contact Dake or Nelson at taylorcofirstresponders@ gmail.com or through the organization’s Facebook page.

Dake and Nelson are working to make a difference in the community and close a gap in emergency response to make life better for all residents and visitors to Taylor County.