‘Geriatric brigade’ serves tiny town
ELK RIVER, Idaho – The average age of residents in this yesteryear timber town is around 65.
The ambulance crew isn’t much younger.
“We call it the geriatric brigade,” says 63-year-old Keith Lunders.
“I’m the baby,” boasts 47-year-old Becky Patterson.
At 68, Leroy Sims is the elder.
“Anybody who’s breathing,” is the way Sims describes potential recruits for the Elk River Ambulance Service.
“We’re always hollering for volunteers,” says Patterson, who is also city clerk-treasurer.
About 100 people live in Elk River. That compares with around 2,000 in the early 1900s, when Idaho’s timber industry boomed and the remote community had a robust lumber mill.
“So many people who own property here now are weekend residents only,” says Randy Johnson, a 59-year-old member of the ambulance crew. Most of them are retired.
Lunders moved here more than a decade ago and likens working on the ambulance crew to an advance payment on the day he might need to be rescued.
“The first call I went on was a logger who got hit by a tree.”
Resident Jim Belieu, 65, is also on the crew. So is Rick Trott, a 49-year-old advance EMT who went through training 20 years ago.
As for Elk River’s ambulance, it’s barely 10 years old with about 20,000 miles. Most of the time the 1998 Chevrolet sits ready in the local fire hall.
“Normally, there’s only about 12 runs a year,” Patterson said, but adds that number jumped to 42 in 2007.
Whether the ambulance is pressed into service or parked, it and the volunteers have to be ready 24 hours a day, seven days a week – the same as in much larger cities.
“You never know when a call will come,” says Sims, a retired construction worker who’s an advanced EMT as well as an instructor.
Not so long ago, confides Sims, he rode to the hospital in the back of the ambulance when he experienced stroke-like symptoms.
About 40 miles away via the twisting, backcountry Dent Road, Les Eaves talks by telephone from his Orofino office about the aging but capable Elk River ambulance crew.
“I am very confident in those guys up there,” Eaves says.
As director of the Clearwater County Ambulance Service, Eaves oversees operations in Orofino, Pierce, Weippe and Elk River. The latter three towns, he explains, are about an hour from the nearest hospital. So the health and safety of people in those remote locations often hinges on the expertise of the local ambulance crew.
“We never have enough (volunteers) in any of the towns,” Eaves says. But the situation became so desperate in Elk River recently, he says, that the town almost lost its ambulance. State licensing regulations require a certain number of drivers, first responders, and basic and advanced EMTs.
“People go there (Elk River) to retire, not to become an ambulance attendant,” Eaves says.
But now that Sims is a certified instructor, Eaves says he hopes recruiting will be easier. Residents can take instruction and become certified without leaving town to attend classes.
“He does real well,” Eaves says of Sims’ teaching expertise.
According to the Idaho Emergency Medical Services Bureau, Clearwater County Ambulance is one of 25 agencies licensed to provide emergency medical services in Clearwater, Latah, Nez Perce, Lewis and Idaho counties.
Maurice Maser, an Orofino physician, is credited with starting the Clearwater service in 1972 when he taught the first EMT classes. Back then, responders used a Chevrolet van and a Pontiac station wagon. Former Clearwater County Sheriff Nick Albers was the first director, with Shawn Kaufman, Leonard Eckman and now Eaves taking turns at the helm.
“I’ve been in it since 1968,” Eaves says of his work in emergency medical services.
As with most ambulance districts, costs of the service are paid through local taxes and income paid by patients who receive the services.
“We’re not making money,” says Eaves, “but we are self-sufficient.”