When Detroit Lakes Essentia Health St. Mary’s EMS moved into its new, larger facility a couple of years ago, it set the stage for impressive growth in service capabilities there. It’s a good thing, too because the need for those ambulances and its staff of trained life-savers is going up by leaps and bounds. In less than 10 years, the number of calls coming in to the Detroit Lakes EMS facility has increased by 40 percent. “Even in the last year, we went from 287 calls in August of 2013, which is our busiest month of the year and it was our highest ever, to 346 this year,” said Sean Lathrop, EMS and security manager at Essentia Health St. Mary’s. “So to see that kind of increase is kind of crazy.” The calls coming in can be attributed to a few different things, according to Lathrop, including an increase in visitors coming to the area, the relationship with Essentia Health in Fargo, a population increase in the area and probably most importantly, better education on things like heart attacks and strokes. “Before men and women would tolerate their pain forever, but now they know, ‘hey I think I’m having a heart attack or this is a sign of a stroke,’” said Troy Krabbenhoft, Essentia Health paramedic, who says an increase in different types of medications seems to induce issues they are called to.
“Sometimes you’ll get there and people are taking 10 different types of medications and maybe supplementing them with some over the counter or ‘natural’ herbs and things and it can drop their heart rate or increase it,” said Krabbenhoft. Essentia Health is responding to this high increased demand with a hiring spurt of its own that has pushed the number of professional first responders working for the hospital from 16 about a year and a half ago to roughly 40 now. That might seem like another drastic increase, but it’s one the organization is able to take because of a relatively new approach they are taking to the EMS system. Whereas before EMS personnel worked just in emergency response, Essentia is now diversifying the roles of those in EMS workers so that during downtime, they are also filling gaps throughout the healthcare system. “A lot of the paramedics will go over and work security at the other facilities at the ICU or emergency room,” explained Lathrop. “Or because there is always something going on for the nursing staff, they’ll go and see if there is anything they can do to help them or they’ll pop their heads into the patient’s rooms to see if there’s anything they need.” But EMS systematical growth isn’t stopping at Essentia-St. Mary’s doorstep. It is busy with an outreach to community members, hoping more people will step up and at least become first responder qualified. “There’s always need out in the rural areas,” said EMS Field Supervisor Michael Zimmer, who says while Becker County pages St. Mary’s EMS, it’s often the local volunteer organizations like the ones in Frazee, Lake Park, Audubon and Wolf Lake that can get there first during situations where time is often critical. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1085680","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"350","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"700"}}]] “People in their own area can get there quicker and start doing stuff right away,” said Zimmer, who says there is different levels of training happening at the EMS building in Detroit Lakes almost every single day, and they are usually classes that are open to the general public. The most basic of those, the first responder class, can be taken by somebody looking to actually volunteer with a local unit and carry a beeper, or by somebody who simply wants to be prepared to help if the situation is needed. “If you have kids and just want to be prepared or even if somebody goes down shopping in Walmart or something, if somebody there knows what to do and can start compressions right away, survivability for that person goes way up,” said Krabbenhoft, who says Essentia Health St. Mary’s EMS building is a state of the art training facility that he hopes more people take advantage of. “People come from all over to train here, and so we’re lucky to have this right here in Detroit Lakes,” said Krabbenhoft. The EMS department is also now reaching out to local businesses in the hopes that more will be willing to let them in - free of charge - to train employees on a new style of hands-only CPR. “Whether it be church groups, civic groups, businesses… you give us 30 minutes and we’ll teach everybody how to do this,” said Lathrop. “If somebody goes unresponsive, you shake them; if they don’t respond, you start doing compressions on their chest. “You don’t even have to do mouth compressions.” For more information on how to get businesses or civic organizations signed up for this class or to register for any of the other first responder/ EMT, advanced cardiac life support or pediatric advance life support classes, call Essentia Health-St. Mary’s EMT at 218-847-0817. Tweets by @DLNewspapersWhen Detroit Lakes Essentia Health St. Mary’s EMS moved into its new, larger facility a couple of years ago, it set the stage for impressive growth in service capabilities there. It’s a good thing, too because the need for those ambulances and its staff of trained life-savers is going up by leaps and bounds. In less than 10 years, the number of calls coming in to the Detroit Lakes EMS facility has increased by 40 percent. “Even in the last year, we went from 287 calls in August of 2013, which is our busiest month of the year and it was our highest ever, to 346 this year,” said Sean Lathrop, EMS and security manager at Essentia Health St. Mary’s. “So to see that kind of increase is kind of crazy.” The calls coming in can be attributed to a few different things, according to Lathrop, including an increase in visitors coming to the area, the relationship with Essentia Health in Fargo, a population increase in the area and probably most importantly, better education on things like heart attacks and strokes. “Before men and women would tolerate their pain forever, but now they know, ‘hey I think I’m having a heart attack or this is a sign of a stroke,’” said Troy Krabbenhoft, Essentia Health paramedic, who says an increase in different types of medications seems to induce issues they are called to. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1085677","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"350","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"700"}}]] “Sometimes you’ll get there and people are taking 10 different types of medications and maybe supplementing them with some over the counter or ‘natural’ herbs and things and it can drop their heart rate or increase it,” said Krabbenhoft. Essentia Health is responding to this high increased demand with a hiring spurt of its own that has pushed the number of professional first responders working for the hospital from 16 about a year and a half ago to roughly 40 now. That might seem like another drastic increase, but it’s one the organization is able to take because of a relatively new approach they are taking to the EMS system. Whereas before EMS personnel worked just in emergency response, Essentia is now diversifying the roles of those in EMS workers so that during downtime, they are also filling gaps throughout the healthcare system. “A lot of the paramedics will go over and work security at the other facilities at the ICU or emergency room,” explained Lathrop. “Or because there is always something going on for the nursing staff, they’ll go and see if there is anything they can do to help them or they’ll pop their heads into the patient’s rooms to see if there’s anything they need.” But EMS systematical growth isn’t stopping at Essentia-St. Mary’s doorstep. It is busy with an outreach to community members, hoping more people will step up and at least become first responder qualified. “There’s always need out in the rural areas,” said EMS Field Supervisor Michael Zimmer, who says while Becker County pages St. Mary’s EMS, it’s often the local volunteer organizations like the ones in Frazee, Lake Park, Audubon and Wolf Lake that can get there first during situations where time is often critical.
“People in their own area can get there quicker and start doing stuff right away,” said Zimmer, who says there is different levels of training happening at the EMS building in Detroit Lakes almost every single day, and they are usually classes that are open to the general public. The most basic of those, the first responder class, can be taken by somebody looking to actually volunteer with a local unit and carry a beeper, or by somebody who simply wants to be prepared to help if the situation is needed. “If you have kids and just want to be prepared or even if somebody goes down shopping in Walmart or something, if somebody there knows what to do and can start compressions right away, survivability for that person goes way up,” said Krabbenhoft, who says Essentia Health St. Mary’s EMS building is a state of the art training facility that he hopes more people take advantage of. “People come from all over to train here, and so we’re lucky to have this right here in Detroit Lakes,” said Krabbenhoft. The EMS department is also now reaching out to local businesses in the hopes that more will be willing to let them in - free of charge - to train employees on a new style of hands-only CPR. “Whether it be church groups, civic groups, businesses… you give us 30 minutes and we’ll teach everybody how to do this,” said Lathrop. “If somebody goes unresponsive, you shake them; if they don’t respond, you start doing compressions on their chest. “You don’t even have to do mouth compressions.” For more information on how to get businesses or civic organizations signed up for this class or to register for any of the other first responder/ EMT, advanced cardiac life support or pediatric advance life support classes, call Essentia Health-St. Mary’s EMT at 218-847-0817. Tweets by @DLNewspapersWhen Detroit Lakes Essentia Health St. Mary’s EMS moved into its new, larger facility a couple of years ago, it set the stage for impressive growth in service capabilities there.It’s a good thing, too because the need for those ambulances and its staff of trained life-savers is going up by leaps and bounds.In less than 10 years, the number of calls coming in to the Detroit Lakes EMS facility has increased by 40 percent.“Even in the last year, we went from 287 calls in August of 2013, which is our busiest month of the year and it was our highest ever, to 346 this year,” said Sean Lathrop, EMS and security manager at Essentia Health St. Mary’s. “So to see that kind of increase is kind of crazy.”The calls coming in can be attributed to a few different things, according to Lathrop, including an increase in visitors coming to the area, the relationship with Essentia Health in Fargo, a population increase in the area and probably most importantly, better education on things like heart attacks and strokes.“Before men and women would tolerate their pain forever, but now they know, ‘hey I think I’m having a heart attack or this is a sign of a stroke,’” said Troy Krabbenhoft, Essentia Health paramedic, who says an increase in different types of medications seems to induce issues they are called to.
“Sometimes you’ll get there and people are taking 10 different types of medications and maybe supplementing them with some over the counter or ‘natural’ herbs and things and it can drop their heart rate or increase it,” said Krabbenhoft.Essentia Health is responding to this high increased demand with a hiring spurt of its own that has pushed the number of professional first responders working for the hospital from 16 about a year and a half ago to roughly 40 now.That might seem like another drastic increase, but it’s one the organization is able to take because of a relatively new approach they are taking to the EMS system.Whereas before EMS personnel worked just in emergency response, Essentia is now diversifying the roles of those in EMS workers so that during downtime, they are also filling gaps throughout the healthcare system.“A lot of the paramedics will go over and work security at the other facilities at the ICU or emergency room,” explained Lathrop. “Or because there is always something going on for the nursing staff, they’ll go and see if there is anything they can do to help them or they’ll pop their heads into the patient’s rooms to see if there’s anything they need.”But EMS systematical growth isn’t stopping at Essentia-St. Mary’s doorstep.It is busy with an outreach to community members, hoping more people will step up and at least become first responder qualified.“There’s always need out in the rural areas,” said EMS Field Supervisor Michael Zimmer, who says while Becker County pages St. Mary’s EMS, it’s often the local volunteer organizations like the ones in Frazee, Lake Park, Audubon and Wolf Lake that can get there first during situations where time is often critical.[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1085680","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"350","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"700"}}]]“People in their own area can get there quicker and start doing stuff right away,” said Zimmer, who says there is different levels of training happening at the EMS building in Detroit Lakes almost every single day, and they are usually classes that are open to the general public.The most basic of those, the first responder class, can be taken by somebody looking to actually volunteer with a local unit and carry a beeper, or by somebody who simply wants to be prepared to help if the situation is needed.“If you have kids and just want to be prepared or even if somebody goes down shopping in Walmart or something, if somebody there knows what to do and can start compressions right away, survivability for that person goes way up,” said Krabbenhoft, who says Essentia Health St. Mary’s EMS building is a state of the art training facility that he hopes more people take advantage of.“People come from all over to train here, and so we’re lucky to have this right here in Detroit Lakes,” said Krabbenhoft.The EMS department is also now reaching out to local businesses in the hopes that more will be willing to let them in - free of charge - to train employees on a new style of hands-only CPR.“Whether it be church groups, civic groups, businesses… you give us 30 minutes and we’ll teach everybody how to do this,” said Lathrop. “If somebody goes unresponsive, you shake them; if they don’t respond, you start doing compressions on their chest. “You don’t even have to do mouth compressions.”For more information on how to get businesses or civic organizations signed up for this class or to register for any of the other first responder/ EMT, advanced cardiac life support or pediatric advance life support classes, call Essentia Health-St. Mary’s EMT at 218-847-0817.Tweets by @DLNewspapersWhen Detroit Lakes Essentia Health St. Mary’s EMS moved into its new, larger facility a couple of years ago, it set the stage for impressive growth in service capabilities there.It’s a good thing, too because the need for those ambulances and its staff of trained life-savers is going up by leaps and bounds.In less than 10 years, the number of calls coming in to the Detroit Lakes EMS facility has increased by 40 percent.“Even in the last year, we went from 287 calls in August of 2013, which is our busiest month of the year and it was our highest ever, to 346 this year,” said Sean Lathrop, EMS and security manager at Essentia Health St. Mary’s. “So to see that kind of increase is kind of crazy.”The calls coming in can be attributed to a few different things, according to Lathrop, including an increase in visitors coming to the area, the relationship with Essentia Health in Fargo, a population increase in the area and probably most importantly, better education on things like heart attacks and strokes.“Before men and women would tolerate their pain forever, but now they know, ‘hey I think I’m having a heart attack or this is a sign of a stroke,’” said Troy Krabbenhoft, Essentia Health paramedic, who says an increase in different types of medications seems to induce issues they are called to.[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1085677","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"350","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"700"}}]]“Sometimes you’ll get there and people are taking 10 different types of medications and maybe supplementing them with some over the counter or ‘natural’ herbs and things and it can drop their heart rate or increase it,” said Krabbenhoft.Essentia Health is responding to this high increased demand with a hiring spurt of its own that has pushed the number of professional first responders working for the hospital from 16 about a year and a half ago to roughly 40 now.That might seem like another drastic increase, but it’s one the organization is able to take because of a relatively new approach they are taking to the EMS system.Whereas before EMS personnel worked just in emergency response, Essentia is now diversifying the roles of those in EMS workers so that during downtime, they are also filling gaps throughout the healthcare system.“A lot of the paramedics will go over and work security at the other facilities at the ICU or emergency room,” explained Lathrop. “Or because there is always something going on for the nursing staff, they’ll go and see if there is anything they can do to help them or they’ll pop their heads into the patient’s rooms to see if there’s anything they need.”But EMS systematical growth isn’t stopping at Essentia-St. Mary’s doorstep.It is busy with an outreach to community members, hoping more people will step up and at least become first responder qualified.“There’s always need out in the rural areas,” said EMS Field Supervisor Michael Zimmer, who says while Becker County pages St. Mary’s EMS, it’s often the local volunteer organizations like the ones in Frazee, Lake Park, Audubon and Wolf Lake that can get there first during situations where time is often critical.
“People in their own area can get there quicker and start doing stuff right away,” said Zimmer, who says there is different levels of training happening at the EMS building in Detroit Lakes almost every single day, and they are usually classes that are open to the general public.The most basic of those, the first responder class, can be taken by somebody looking to actually volunteer with a local unit and carry a beeper, or by somebody who simply wants to be prepared to help if the situation is needed.“If you have kids and just want to be prepared or even if somebody goes down shopping in Walmart or something, if somebody there knows what to do and can start compressions right away, survivability for that person goes way up,” said Krabbenhoft, who says Essentia Health St. Mary’s EMS building is a state of the art training facility that he hopes more people take advantage of.“People come from all over to train here, and so we’re lucky to have this right here in Detroit Lakes,” said Krabbenhoft.The EMS department is also now reaching out to local businesses in the hopes that more will be willing to let them in - free of charge - to train employees on a new style of hands-only CPR.“Whether it be church groups, civic groups, businesses… you give us 30 minutes and we’ll teach everybody how to do this,” said Lathrop. “If somebody goes unresponsive, you shake them; if they don’t respond, you start doing compressions on their chest. “You don’t even have to do mouth compressions.”For more information on how to get businesses or civic organizations signed up for this class or to register for any of the other first responder/ EMT, advanced cardiac life support or pediatric advance life support classes, call Essentia Health-St. Mary’s EMT at 218-847-0817.Tweets by @DLNewspapers
