Carrying the community Ambulances need community's best to stand up, stand out

In Lincoln County, the weight — and fates — of over 19,000 residents rests on the shoulders of only a handful of volunteers who have committed to be at their best when someone else’s life is at its worst.

For the southern portion of the county, every medical 911 call and most of the transports to other hospitals are handled by 16 volunteers in Libby and another 16 in Troy.

At Libby Volunteer Ambulance and Troy Volunteer Ambulance, the volunteers donate their time to train, to perform maintenance and to save lives. There is compensation for some runs, but nothing regular or significant enough to equal what they could make working a second job.

Yet, they are held to the same standards, qualifications and expectations as someone performing the same work in a major city for whom it’s just a 40-hour-a-week job.

And calls are increasing.

According to numbers discussed in meetings with stakeholders in medical response for Lincoln County, LVA is making over 800 runs a year and TVA is making over 500.

Amy Snow is one of only three Troy residents under 60 who have chosen to serve their community with the ambulance.

Snow said TVA had 52 runs in July. That is about double last July, and most months have been seeing runs double.

Yet, most of those calls are still serious medical problems, said TVA volunteer Roger Gilligan. “Maybe five percent could go on their own.”

With fewer young people in the area and many moving to the area to retire, Gilligan said they are faced with a smaller pool of recruits and more people in need.

At LVA, there are only three members under 40, Brown said.

Both services try to have every hour of the day covered, so that they know at least two people — the minimum needed for an ambulance — are ready at all times.

Though the two ambulance services handle calls and stipends differently, both expect a minimum of 48 hours on-call each month.

With a full roster, filling all the shifts in a month may not be difficult. With 16 members, some volunteers may be spending 100 hours or more on call.

The more people who carry the burden, the lighter it is, Brown said.

Anyone who has a complaint about the EMS service in the county, Gilligan said he hands them an application.

But there is one thing more than any other Gilligan said he’d like the community to understand about the volunteer ambulance service:

“That it’s likely to disappear,” he said.

An ambulance service can’t run with just three people, Gilligan said. If someone doesn’t step up to stand in the gap, it is only a matter of time before there is no one left to answer the calls.

Stand together

At LVA, volunteers are required to come and stay at the ambulance barn during call unless they live within five minutes, Brown said.

But, with separate rooms for men and women, beds, wifi, computers, a good sized kitchen and living room space as well as a gym with a variety of exercise machines, there is plenty of ways for volunteers to stay occupied and even benefit from their time on call.

There is stress to the job, and it takes the right mentality to deal with seeing trauma and medical issues, Snow said. But there is also support for one another and looking out to make sure dealing with a community member’s trauma doesn’t create mental or emotional trauma for the responders.

“Troy is good with support,” she said.

“The service is a family,” Gilligan said.

Snow said she chose to join TVA because she grew up here, knows the people and wants to help them.

Despite the potential that getting certified as an EMT could seem intimidating, it shouldn’t be, Snow said. “Medical stuff is easy.”

Brown, who has been running with LVA for eight years now, said he was a ‘C’ or ‘C plus’ student when he was in high school. As someone who is now an EMT instructor, he sees no reason for anyone to be concerned they won’t be able to handle the studying required.

The next free EMT class is planned to take place in Libby in October, Brown said. Classes will go for about three hours on two nights a week — most likely Tuesdays and Thursdays — with a full day on Saturdays.

If enough class members need different hours to fit their schedules, the class schedule can change to suit that need, he said.

The class takes three months, and it does take some studying, he said.

“People get intimidated,” he said, showing the book that is easily three inches thick. Yet, that’s where the support of the service comes in again.

Anyone who needs help with the class, there is a lot of knowledge among the LVA members to help a recruit out who is willing to put in the work, he said.

And it’s not all endless classroom work. The Saturday classes are usually spent on “practicals,” the hands-on training that lets people get to work in simulated real-world scenarios.

Once students have their CPR and HIPAA certifications, they can begin working on their minimum number of patient contacts by going on actual runs and learning firsthand, he said. There is also the opportunity for those who don’t get enough runs during class to do clinical work in the hospital.

“It’s just a lot of material. Everybody here is willing to help. We’ve all taken the class at least once,” Brown said. “It just takes time and effort to get through the material.”

Brown said that there are no costs for those who finish the class, though there may be some kind of deposit for the $350 books, as they have not always been returned in the past by recruits who drop out of the class.

Those interested in the class are encouraged to sign up early, and it is possible to start reading and studying the material before the class begins, Brown said.

Applications for the Troy and Libby Volunteer Ambulance services can be picked up at either their respective stations: 307 Montana Avenue in Libby and 205 third Street in Troy.

Personnel are on station at both locations during the daytime of the week, though they may be called out to serve the community at any time.

Those interested in Joining Troy are encouraged to drop their name and contact information in the mail slot at the ambulance barn if nothing else.

LVA phone: 406-293-6512

TVA phone: 406-295-6505