Ashley Turner previously worked inside a cubicle at Digi-Key in Thief River Falls, but made a switch that would put her in direct contact with those in her community. She made the transition to emergency medical services (EMS), wanting to do something for her community. She has worked with Tri-County EMS since 2018, currently serving as the administrator, but coming in with no EMS experience at all.
“I was completely blown away at the need for EMS,” Turner said, “and I have completely, I guess, jumped into EMS, and it is been my passion ever since.”
Turner spoke about Tri-County EMS, including its service area, staffing, call totals, and operations. She also spoke about the challenges Tri-County EMS faces, how it is trying to adjust to them, how people can get involved, and why serving within Tri-County EMS is so important to her.
Working as the administrator, Turner ensures everything is running smoothly at its three locations: Karlstad, Middle River and Newfolden. It has four total ambulances-- two in Karlstad, and one each in Middle River and Newfolden. Tri-County EMS covers about 1,400 square miles.
Last year, its calls were down some. Normally, Turner highlighted, they average about 300 calls per year. In 2022, it responded to about 280 calls.
Turner is the only paid employee of Tri-County EMS, as this administrative office job is her main job. While serving out in the community on the EMS service, she is just like everyone else who serves Tri-County EMS—a volunteer. They have about 50 people on staff—about half are emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and half are emergency medical responders (EMRs). Tri-County EMS also staffs emergency drivers frequently.
“Like here in Karlstad, we actually utilize emergency drivers a lot because we take kids from the school (to assist us on the service),” Turner said. “… Back in 2019, that's how we actually made day call possible.”
One of their emergency drivers is Karlstad City employee Mike Lorenson. During these day calls, for example, Lorenson would drive Turner and a trained school student.
“We have to think outside the box,” Turner said. “… That was before we have the variance to go with just an EMT and a driver, so we would take an EMR from the school.”
Tri-County EMS led its very first EMR class at the Tri-County School; the actual class was taught at Tri-County School as a class. Out of this, it got trained EMRs back in 2019. To be an EMR, one has to be at least 16 years old. These trained students are allowed to leave school to go on runs.
“We actually weren't able to take our own day call (before having the students). Before that, Hallock was helping us out,” Turner said. “… They (the students) pretty much saved our day call. Myself and a high school kid would go and we would run calls during the day.”
Having a volunteer staffing base, Tri-County EMS is a non-profit 501c3 entity that relies on its runs to operate. It also relies on donations, grants, and their townships, sending out a “small” membership fee to their serviced townships.
At its January meeting, the City of Karlstad waived Tri-County EMS’ entire rent to the city, amounting to $4,000. Turner said this was a huge deal, given that the service is looking into purchasing a new rig. One of its rigs is a 2010 vehicle that has over 100,000 miles on it.
“We run anywhere from, on average, about two calls a week, so that's (the rental waive) huge,” Turner said. “We need a new ambulance really bad.”
Currently, Tri-County EMS is spending much money to maintain its ambulances, as its fleet is old. Many of its funds go towards maintaining its older fleet of ambulances. They are fundraising for a new ambulance right row, and the rental waive allows them to set aside some funds to put towards helping pay for this new ambulance rig.
These days a new ambulance rig runs at about $250,000 and upon order are two years out.
“We wouldn't have to do a brand-new ambulance. We could do something that was used if it… was newer and has low miles,” Turner said about replacing its 2010 ambulance. “So, we're just looking for something that's newer than ours, basically.”
Outside replacing an ambulance, one of Tri-County’s biggest challenges is staffing, as its volunteer base is down, not having the people who want to volunteer like they used to, Turner explained.
“We do get a glimpse of hope… Like I said, we go into the schools and we get these kids really excited about EMS, so that gives us hope,” Turner said. “But we just still need that base of volunteers and we don't have that.”
About 50 people serve Tri-County EMS, but it has about 25 people on a roster. About 10 of these people are very active who take calls, working 12-hour shifts.
“Between those of us that are very active that take call, we split up the entire month. We're on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Turner said. “There's never a minute of that month that we're not on call. We have it covered every minute of every day.”
To adjust to the staffing challenge, Tri-County EMS holds at least two classes each year—one in the spring and one in the winter. As she previously mentioned, they also go into the schools to get students involved.
“How can we get people involved in EMS,” Turner asked. “I guess what I always say is anybody who is willing to do something we can get them involved in any way.”
She highlighted how her grandma bakes cookies for their board meetings. She also mentioned Lorenson, who can drive, but doesn’t want to be an EMR.
“Anybody who wants to get involved… They can be involved some way,” Turner said. “… If there's something that you can do, I mean, we'll get you involved.”
For those unfamiliar with the EMT and EMR training, each requires a different amount of training hours. To get one’s EMT certification, one has to put in about 160 hours, and, to get one’s EMR certification, one has to post 50 to 60 hours of training.
“We train our EMRs very high though, so we train them right alongside our EMTs,” Turner said. “So, we actually do the same course; we train them together.”
Currently, Tri-County EMS has three EMR high school students serving with them— two from Heritage Christian School and one from Marshall County Central. Turner said they see students who get involved in Tri-County EMS turn around and go into a healthcare field—nursing, CNA.
For those interested in joining Tri-County EMS, they can stop in or call (218-436-3161) to visit with Turner at her office, located off the City Office in Karlstad (104 First St S). Every time they have a class, they advertise it on their website (tcems.org) and on Facebook under Tri-County EMS.
If one expresses interest in being on the service, Tri-County EMS will give him or her a packet of information explaining the difference between the EMR and EMT class. People can decide what class they want to take. Tri-County EMS also usually hosts an open house to give more in-depth differences between the classes and what each class entails.
Dee Kujava, Tri-County EMS’ training coordinator, does a “great job,” Turner explained, of laying out these differences between EMR and EMT and what the prerequisites are for each of them. Kujava, Roxie Lorenson and Turner are EMR/EMT class instructors.
For Turner, serving one’s community through Tri-County EMS is one of the most “amazing” and “life-changing” experiences.
“I never imagined going from sitting in a cube every day, to being out in your community and just being able to help your neighbor,” Turner said. “… There's no better way to do community service.”
There are times when working within Tri-County EMS can be a challenge, but it’s a good, a different kind of challenge, Turner explained.
“You have to think outside the box. You have to be, you know, quick on your feet,” Turner said. “… But it's the most rewarding thing you can do is to be there for your neighbor, and it's amazing… I can't think of a better thing to do for your neighbor. I really can't.”
One challenge is doing this hard work in an area where everyone knows everyone, serving people one sees every day and who he or she knows personally. This dynamic also makes the job rewarding— to be there for the people they know and care about.
“To see somebody afterwards that you've been on a call (for) and you see them walking around and you're like, wow,” Turner said. “… There's just no better feeling than seeing somebody that you didn't think was going to make it and you see them walking around. It's amazing.”
