Volunteer crew a saving grace

CLARK FORK, Idaho – Ann Higgins had no sooner finished her emergency medical training when one of her neighbors pulled into her driveway and promptly stopped breathing.

Higgins resuscitated the neighbor and called 911. Clark Fork Valley Ambulance arrived in no time, and Higgins’ neighbor is still walking around today.

Higgins and her husband, Steve, are active volunteer emergency medical technicians. When they moved to the Clark Fork River Valley in 1997, Steve arrived with an EMT license and 22 years of medical experience in the military. Ann immediately signed up for classes with CFVA president, instructor and advanced EMT volunteer Russ Schenck.

Schenck is known locally for his longtime dedication to the rural ambulance service and four years ago his services were nationally recognized when he won the EMT/Paramedic of the Year Award. This award is presented annually at the American Ambulance Association Show and is jointly sponsored by EMS Magazine, the Journal of Emergency Care, Rescue and Transportation, and Braun Industries.

Clark Fork Valley Ambulance picks up people from the Montana line to the Pack River Bridge and transports them to Bonner General Hospital in Sandpoint. All EMTs are fully licensed.

From a record number of 18 volunteers, the volunteer staff has gradually dwindled so that only five licensed EMTs are currently available. Although accustomed to taking turns at 12 hour shifts, now when a call comes in whoever is closest and available rushes to the scene. Volunteers work locally and often lose pay when they take time off to respond to an emergency.

This does not bother Steve Higgins.

“The payment I get is being able to give back to the community, help my friends and neighbors as well as using my long-term knowledge to postpone the visit from the grim reaper,” Higgins wrote by e-mail.

When Sandpoint-based Big Sky Paramedics ran into financial difficulties, it terminated rural service throughout Bonner County. Volunteer rural fire departments tried to fill in the gaps and Bonner County commissioners were forced to dip into reserve funds and to explore ways to provide county residents with emergency coverage.

Clark Fork escaped the countywide crisis, however, thanks to Schenck, Ann and Steve Higgins, and fellow volunteers Nadine Stotts and Jeff Wilder. Their skill and commitment has enabled Clark Fork Valley Ambulance to provide round-the-clock service.

“We are the little ambulance that could,” Steve Higgins said, comparing the ambulance service to the popular children’s tale, “The Little Engine That Could.”

Since community members started the first Quick Response Unit 1975, CFVA has grown and expanded. It continues to add new equipment and vehicles, and upgrade skills. CFVA was able to build, with volunteer assistance and generous donations, a two-story building large enough for vehicles, offices and classrooms three years ago. Classes to train new EMTs are scheduled to start in Clark Fork in November and people are urged to sign up.

“Everyone who works on the ambulance has a full-time job somewhere else and is supporting a family,” said Schenck. “But it’s a doable schedule. We can be a little flexible.”

Classes are only offered to those who will, upon completion, assist the CFVA. Classes run twice a week for three hours per night – for 130 hours total. Cost is $150. The fee covers fingerprinting, criminal background checks, books, instructional materials and the test conducted by the national registry for emergency medical training. The national registry is the testing standard used by the State of Idaho to verify the qualifications of all emergency medical technicians.

“There is no greater satisfaction than knowing you are helping your neighbor or loved one in a time of need,” said Schenck.

For information on classes and/or to volunteer, call 266-1574 or 266-1161.