Full Transcript for Answering the Call with Baldwin EMS

00:02:15.810 services and a unique perspective on how EMS is evolving 33 00:02:15.909 --> 00:02:19.370 to meet the changing needs of rural patients. Today, we'll 34 00:02:19.389 --> 00:02:22.629 talk about his career in EMS, and what it takes 35 00:02:22.689 --> 00:02:26.409 to become a paramedic, the important work Baldwin EMS does 36 00:02:26.569 --> 00:02:30.439 every day, and how community paramedicine is helping patients receive 37 00:02:30.520 --> 00:02:34.340 the right care in the right place at the right time. Tom, 38 00:02:34.520 --> 00:02:37.099 welcome to Redefining Rural Healthcare. We're glad to have you 39 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:37.699 with us today. 40 00:02:38.300 --> 00:02:39.400 Thank you for having me today. 41 00:02:40.199 --> 00:02:43.289 Let's get started by having you tell us about yourself 42 00:02:43.370 --> 00:02:44.870 and how you got started in EMS. 43 00:02:46.129 --> 00:02:49.099 Well, I'm from the area. I graduated from Spring Valley 44 00:02:49.620 --> 00:02:54.210 back in 1999. I married my high school girlfriend. I 45 00:02:54.250 --> 00:02:58.729 went to River Falls, pursued a degree in education. And 46 00:02:59.909 --> 00:03:02.569 while I was coaching football, one day I realized I 47 00:03:02.610 --> 00:03:06.139 didn't know much about taking care of athletes if they 48 00:03:06.180 --> 00:03:08.240 got injured, much more than, you know, walk it off 49 00:03:08.280 --> 00:03:11.099 kind of a deal. So I went to the local ambulance, 50 00:03:11.159 --> 00:03:14.360 Spring Valley Ambulance, and I asked them, you know, if 51 00:03:14.379 --> 00:03:16.439 they could teach me some first aid, and they decided 52 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:19.500 to recruit me. So I took an EMR class, a 53 00:03:19.539 --> 00:03:25.300 first responder course in January of 2005. Became a first 54 00:03:25.340 --> 00:03:27.219 responder for Spring Valley. From there, I went on to 55 00:03:27.259 --> 00:03:29.740 become an EMT basic in the fall of 2005. And 56 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:33.669 then I joined the fire department in 2006 and then 57 00:03:33.750 --> 00:03:36.729 just kept snowballing. And eventually I ended up here in 58 00:03:37.250 --> 00:03:40.770 Baldwin as a paramedic and an EMS chief in May 59 00:03:40.789 --> 00:03:42.669 of 2015. Wow. 60 00:03:42.789 --> 00:03:44.750 I didn't know you had a connection with the Spring 61 00:03:44.770 --> 00:03:45.610 Valley EMS. 62 00:03:46.090 --> 00:03:46.289 Yep. 63 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:50.759 My neighbors used to be, um, Todd and Mel, uh, Jordan. 64 00:03:50.900 --> 00:03:54.199 So that's a very cool connection. They're wonderful EMS people 65 00:03:54.219 --> 00:03:56.139 there in spring Valley. Yeah. 66 00:03:56.479 --> 00:03:58.020 Todd and I go fishing up north a couple of 67 00:03:58.039 --> 00:03:58.500 times a year. 68 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:02.750 So very nice. So how many people are on the 69 00:04:02.759 --> 00:04:04.370 Baldwin EMS team right now? 70 00:04:05.159 --> 00:04:08.310 We have 45 members on our roster right now. We 71 00:04:08.330 --> 00:04:12.710 have myself and we have six full-time staff members. We 72 00:04:12.770 --> 00:04:16.290 have 31 paid on call staff members. Basically they're volunteers. 73 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:19.370 They get paid a small hourly rate to be within 74 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:23.589 a response distance of the station. If they can't meet 75 00:04:23.629 --> 00:04:26.949 that because of weather or where they live, they stay 76 00:04:26.970 --> 00:04:30.250 at the station. Then we have two community paramedics. And 77 00:04:30.300 --> 00:04:32.519 we have five first responders that live out in the 78 00:04:32.579 --> 00:04:34.379 country that respond direct to scenes from their house. 79 00:04:34.939 --> 00:04:38.420 Okay. That's quite a few more than I thought you had. 80 00:04:38.579 --> 00:04:42.500 So that's interesting. Approximately how many calls do you respond 81 00:04:42.519 --> 00:04:43.009 to each year? 82 00:04:43.629 --> 00:04:47.060 We respond to between 1,700 to 1,800 calls a year. 83 00:04:47.740 --> 00:04:51.199 So about four to five a day on average. Of 84 00:04:51.240 --> 00:04:56.319 those calls, 450 about are inter-facility transfers, either from West 85 00:04:56.339 --> 00:05:00.000 Wisconsin Health here to hospitals in the cities or Eau 86 00:05:00.040 --> 00:05:04.079 Claire or coming out of like Westfield or Amory, other 87 00:05:04.120 --> 00:05:06.300 hospitals that need to get some patients to the cities. 88 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:12.560 Okay. So when people do that, are they transporting usually 89 00:05:12.660 --> 00:05:16.560 when they're stabilized or is this emergent when you're transporting them? 90 00:05:17.399 --> 00:05:20.040 It's the whole gambit. It can be somebody that's actually 91 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:24.230 having a STEMI or a heart attack, um, trauma patients 92 00:05:24.290 --> 00:05:26.370 that are, they need to get there now and they 93 00:05:26.410 --> 00:05:29.209 can't get a helicopter because of weather. It can be 94 00:05:29.250 --> 00:05:30.970 the person that needs to get there for a surgical 95 00:05:31.009 --> 00:05:34.810 consult in the morning. So, and based on the patient's needs, 96 00:05:34.850 --> 00:05:38.279 we send the appropriate crews, um, Sometimes it can just 97 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:41.180 be two EMTs. Other times it's a medic and a 98 00:05:41.220 --> 00:05:44.019 patient's on the ventilator. So a little bit of everything. 99 00:05:44.439 --> 00:05:47.420 Right. So you really have to have that big staff 100 00:05:47.459 --> 00:05:50.680 that you have on to really accommodate to each separate 101 00:05:50.740 --> 00:05:54.870 need that the patient has. That's interesting. Takes more planning 102 00:05:54.910 --> 00:05:58.009 than I thought. All right. What does it take to 103 00:05:58.050 --> 00:05:58.889 become a paramedic? 104 00:06:00.110 --> 00:06:01.970 To become a paramedic, you have to start off

at 105 00:06:02.009 --> 00:06:04.490 the EMT basic level first. You've got to become a basic, 106 00:06:04.670 --> 00:06:08.129 which is about a 160-hour class. you take it out 107 00:06:08.149 --> 00:06:10.069 of a local tech college. You can start when you're 108 00:06:10.089 --> 00:06:11.970 in high school, make your high school pay for it 109 00:06:11.990 --> 00:06:15.110 so you don't have to pay out of pocket. But 110 00:06:15.129 --> 00:06:17.800 you can't actually start practicing until you're 18, get your 111 00:06:17.810 --> 00:06:20.980 state license. But from there, once you become a basic, 112 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:23.839 then you can enroll in a paramedic program, again, with 113 00:06:23.879 --> 00:06:27.079 a local tech college. That's going to run about 2,000 hours. 114 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:32.970 And with a paramedic curriculum, there's about 750 hours of 115 00:06:32.990 --> 00:06:35.050 clinical hours. Either we're going to be in the ERs, 116 00:06:35.089 --> 00:06:41.759 we're going to be on ambulances. surgical, ICU, shadowing doctors, 117 00:06:41.779 --> 00:06:46.220 getting to see patients at all different levels, learning medications, 118 00:06:46.279 --> 00:06:50.379 the whole gambit. So it takes from basic to the 119 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:52.699 end of the paramedic program, anywhere from a year and 120 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:54.620 a half to two years, depending on which college you 121 00:06:54.660 --> 00:06:57.819 go to, tech college or program you decide. If you 122 00:06:57.839 --> 00:06:59.660 take a gap like I did, it took a few years. 123 00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:03.250 Okay, interesting. I didn't realize you had so many on 124 00:07:04.170 --> 00:07:06.370 the job experiences that you had to do. So are 125 00:07:06.410 --> 00:07:11.839 those hours... scheduled hours where you're in a facility constantly, 126 00:07:11.899 --> 00:07:15.199 or is that as you are taking calls with EMS 127 00:07:15.259 --> 00:07:18.290 and then you're, you're going out and spending time with them? 128 00:07:18.490 --> 00:07:19.230 How does that work? 129 00:07:19.550 --> 00:07:22.269 So it is scheduled clinical hours. So some of it 130 00:07:22.290 --> 00:07:24.290 would be like, you're going to do 200 hours, like 131 00:07:24.310 --> 00:07:27.110 Eau Claire fire. So you spend 200 hours on their ambulance. 132 00:07:27.149 --> 00:07:29.939 Then you'll go and do 40 hours in an ICU 133 00:07:30.060 --> 00:07:34.439 at like regions or, um, Mayo and Eau Claire, depending 134 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:37.420 on what tech college you're with. So it depends. You 135 00:07:37.500 --> 00:07:41.120 have to witness like two or three child deliveries. So 136 00:07:41.139 --> 00:07:44.860 depending if you're in the ER, at a hospital, and 137 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:47.279 you can maybe, if there's a baby delivery, you jump 138 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:50.069 out and go watch that if the mother allows. So 139 00:07:50.550 --> 00:07:53.910 they're scheduled. You devote your time to that. That's outside 140 00:07:53.949 --> 00:07:54.610 the classroom. 141 00:07:54.829 --> 00:07:59.970 So you really learn a lot more than hopefully you 142 00:08:00.009 --> 00:08:02.569 need to know, but you have it there in case 143 00:08:02.670 --> 00:08:05.959 you need it. Yep. What do you think people would 144 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:09.269 be surprised to learn about the work that paramedics do? 145 00:08:10.069 --> 00:08:12.589 Well, it's not like they show on TV. It's a 146 00:08:12.610 --> 00:08:17.750 little bit different. We respond to all sorts of different calls. 147 00:08:18.790 --> 00:08:22.790 It varies. Sometimes calls go easy. Other times we find 148 00:08:22.850 --> 00:08:25.139 patients stuck between the toilet and the bathtub. Believe it 149 00:08:25.149 --> 00:08:27.920 or not, they do get stuck there. Nurses in the 150 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:30.120 ERs will testify that we do like pillows. We will 151 00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:32.779 take a pillow. We make sure we always leave with 152 00:08:32.820 --> 00:08:34.539 a pillow out of the ER. Those are a commodity. 153 00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:39.419 We have good days and bad days. So the work 154 00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:42.360 is never ending and it always catches us off by surprise. 155 00:08:42.980 --> 00:08:44.179 Be nice to know what we're going to do today, 156 00:08:44.220 --> 00:08:45.299 but we don't know that. 157 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:49.840 Absolutely. When you say that people don't, it's not like 158 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:54.039 it seems on TV. What is that common misconception? 159 00:08:55.039 --> 00:08:58.299 Oh, the TV world is makes it seem so dramatic. 160 00:08:58.919 --> 00:09:02.360 You know, they fly in and they do these dramatic 161 00:09:02.419 --> 00:09:05.870 things and it's just, you know, If it's your job, 162 00:09:05.889 --> 00:09:08.529 that's your job. You're a professional. You go in. You 163 00:09:08.549 --> 00:09:13.500 do it. TV has all the worst-case scenarios every day, 164 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:16.360 and we don't get those. We get the lift assist. 165 00:09:16.419 --> 00:09:19.600 We get the little old lady on Christmas Eve who's lonely, 166 00:09:19.620 --> 00:09:21.580 and we just want to ride to the hospital. So 167 00:09:21.620 --> 00:09:23.759 we pick her up, and she's got the night bag packed, 168 00:09:23.820 --> 00:09:26.269 and we jumped on our cot, and we talked to 169 00:09:26.289 --> 00:09:29.090 her the whole way to the hospital and some of 170 00:09:29.129 --> 00:09:31.470 those things. So it's just a little bit different than 171 00:09:31.490 --> 00:09:33.230 the perspective for ratings. 172 00:09:33.990 --> 00:09:34.250 Right. 173 00:09:34.450 --> 00:09:34.750 I agree. 174 00:09:35.090 --> 00:09:38.429 I agree. I wasn't quite sure what you meant, but 175 00:09:38.509 --> 00:09:42.320 I was hoping that it was that. So what is 176 00:09:42.440 --> 00:09:47.539 community paramedicine and how

is it different from traditional EMS response? 177 00:09:49.019 --> 00:09:52.990 So community paramedicine is also known as like mobile integrated healthcare, 178 00:09:53.159 --> 00:09:57.750 depending on where you learned it. It's not an emergency response. 179 00:09:57.809 --> 00:10:01.120 People don't call 911. The community paramedic doesn't rush out 180 00:10:01.179 --> 00:10:04.059 the door. We usually know our patients ahead of time. 181 00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:07.409 We get referrals from doctors and we know what we're 182 00:10:07.429 --> 00:10:11.429 getting into and it's not acute, right? It's not an emergency. 183 00:10:11.870 --> 00:10:14.409 It's more chronic. It's more deliberate. We're going to go 184 00:10:14.450 --> 00:10:18.759 there with a specific goal to provided, you know, fall 185 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:24.399 prevention to provide medication refills. And we're going to spend 186 00:10:24.440 --> 00:10:27.500 some time with the patients in their home, make sure 187 00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:30.590 they get what they need. And then we're going to 188 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:32.110 leave them there and we're going to go see the 189 00:10:32.139 --> 00:10:36.470 next patient. So we're not transporting them. We are taking 190 00:10:36.509 --> 00:10:39.029 care of them in their home. Our goal is to 191 00:10:39.070 --> 00:10:41.730 keep them in their home is usually like a normal paramedic. 192 00:10:41.750 --> 00:10:44.210 We want to get them to a hospital and it's 193 00:10:44.250 --> 00:10:48.710 an emergency. Let's go to get them going. and it's 194 00:10:48.769 --> 00:10:51.629 usually more of a nine-to-five job, not nights, weekends, and 195 00:10:51.669 --> 00:10:56.570 holidays like a paramedic is. So it's a little slower pace, 196 00:10:57.129 --> 00:10:59.649 more relaxing, more structured. 197 00:11:01.110 --> 00:11:04.289 Do some of the same patients get frequent visits, or 198 00:11:04.309 --> 00:11:06.070 are they different patients all the time? 199 00:11:07.029 --> 00:11:09.509 Well, some of our CPs do call 911, and we 200 00:11:09.529 --> 00:11:11.879 do see them on both sides of the fence, and 201 00:11:11.980 --> 00:11:16.769 sometimes we have referred some of our more frequent 911 202 00:11:16.769 --> 00:11:20.190 patients into the CP program to try to eliminate the workload, 203 00:11:20.230 --> 00:11:23.129 both on the ER side and the 911 side. And 204 00:11:23.149 --> 00:11:26.139 that has proven to be a benefit of that program 205 00:11:26.179 --> 00:11:29.320 is by sending that CP, the community paramedic out there, 206 00:11:30.440 --> 00:11:32.820 they stopped calling 911. We can sort of take care 207 00:11:32.840 --> 00:11:34.039 of them a little bit. So they don't need to 208 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:34.899 call us as often. 209 00:11:35.460 --> 00:11:37.639 Absolutely. I think that's one of the reasons that we 210 00:11:37.659 --> 00:11:42.240 formed our partnership about that. Um, So how does the 211 00:11:42.279 --> 00:11:47.019 partnership between Baldwin EMS and Western Wisconsin Health benefit the patients? 212 00:11:48.200 --> 00:11:51.450 It benefits the patients by basically keeping them in their home, 213 00:11:51.590 --> 00:11:57.929 keeping them healthy. We go out there, we allow them 214 00:11:57.950 --> 00:12:03.120 to still stay independent, right? We're providing them some medical 215 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:06.820 needs that they, whatever it is from some simple education 216 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:11.919 to wound care and By doing that in their house, 217 00:12:11.960 --> 00:12:14.899 they don't need to bug people for rides. They don't 218 00:12:14.940 --> 00:12:18.590 need to miss appointments because they can't get rides. They 219 00:12:18.610 --> 00:12:20.549 don't need to go look at a nursing home and 220 00:12:20.590 --> 00:12:24.450 leave their house. They don't need to skip appointments. Then 221 00:12:24.789 --> 00:12:26.649 now they got to call 911 because they don't have 222 00:12:26.669 --> 00:12:31.250 blood pressure medication. So keep them healthy. We keep them 223 00:12:31.269 --> 00:12:36.980 in their homes. You know, they're happier. They're healthier. Saves 224 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:41.879 them money. You know, lessens the burden on the 911 system. 225 00:12:42.440 --> 00:12:44.779 It frees up the ER for the more acute, chronically 226 00:12:44.940 --> 00:12:47.419 sick patients that are coming in. And it's just sort 227 00:12:47.460 --> 00:12:49.039 of better for the whole system in general. 228 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:52.639 When you say it saves them money, does a community 229 00:12:52.679 --> 00:12:55.389 paramedic visit cost the patient anything? 230 00:12:55.409 --> 00:12:59.090 Right now it does not, no. There's no bill to 231 00:12:59.129 --> 00:13:05.190 the patient. A lot of insurance don't cover it. Someday 232 00:13:05.250 --> 00:13:09.009 maybe there'll be some small bills, but that's insurance way 233 00:13:09.029 --> 00:13:12.509 down the line we will probably never ever really bill 234 00:13:12.549 --> 00:13:15.009 a patient it because in the long run it actually 235 00:13:15.049 --> 00:13:19.909 saves both the ambulance and the hospital networks money because 236 00:13:20.169 --> 00:13:23.840 most of these patients are on medicare medicaid reimbursement rates 237 00:13:23.899 --> 00:13:27.200 for 901 calls is very low for an ambulance and 238 00:13:27.299 --> 00:13:29.320 for me to send two three people out in an 239 00:13:29.419 --> 00:13:31.379 ambulance at two o'clock in the morning to take care 240 00:13:31.399 --> 00:13:35.460 of a patient we typically lose money to send one 241 00:13:36.019 --> 00:13:38.320 to send a community paramedic out at three o'clock in 242 00:13:38.360 --> 00:13:40.940 the afternoon in one vehicle to provide care for an 243 00:13:40.980 --> 00:13:45.480 hour it's you know not that much money so we 244 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:49.059 actually end up cutting our

losses drastically so it's a 245 00:13:49.100 --> 00:13:49.700 benefit to. 246 00:13:49.720 --> 00:13:52.629 Us right so we're able to partner to cover those 247 00:13:52.690 --> 00:13:55.070 expenses for now I know we've written a few grants 248 00:13:55.129 --> 00:13:57.370 to try to cover those expenses too and we've been 249 00:13:57.389 --> 00:14:02.070 lobbying with our local legislators to change some things up 250 00:14:02.169 --> 00:14:04.370 so that we can get some reimbursement that way and 251 00:14:04.409 --> 00:14:08.360 keep this going because it's been really successful Can you 252 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:12.039 share a story about how community paramedicine has made a 253 00:14:12.090 --> 00:14:13.950 difference for someone in our community? 254 00:14:15.990 --> 00:14:19.330 There's a lot of them out there. This took me 255 00:14:19.350 --> 00:14:21.769 a while to pinpoint a couple of them when I 256 00:14:21.769 --> 00:14:25.610 was thinking about this, but one in particular that came 257 00:14:25.629 --> 00:14:28.720 to mind was during COVID, right after everything shut down, 258 00:14:28.769 --> 00:14:31.379 I think it was the first part of April, the 259 00:14:31.399 --> 00:14:33.899 hospital called them. It was an elderly couple, and they 260 00:14:33.940 --> 00:14:40.350 believed that the wife possibly had UTIs. And she didn't 261 00:14:40.370 --> 00:14:44.830 want to come to the hospital. Can't blame her. Everybody 262 00:14:44.870 --> 00:14:49.700 was really, you know, nervous. So I came in, I 263 00:14:49.740 --> 00:14:53.720 got the materials from the lab, went out there, sort 264 00:14:53.740 --> 00:14:55.519 of stood in the doorway of the hallway of the apartment, 265 00:14:56.039 --> 00:14:58.940 collected a urine sample from her. She went to the bathroom, 266 00:15:00.100 --> 00:15:02.559 provided me with the urine sample. I came back to here, 267 00:15:04.580 --> 00:15:06.120 dropped it off the lab. The lab was able to 268 00:15:06.179 --> 00:15:10.990 run it. Confirmed she did have a UTI. And then 269 00:15:11.809 --> 00:15:14.250 between the lab and the doctor, you guys were in 270 00:15:14.269 --> 00:15:15.889 the hospital staff here. You guys were able to get 271 00:15:15.929 --> 00:15:19.269 her antibiotics that evening. So she never actually physically had 272 00:15:19.309 --> 00:15:22.330 to come into the hospital to get the antibiotics or 273 00:15:22.350 --> 00:15:26.259 get the testing during a time when COVID was starting 274 00:15:26.279 --> 00:15:28.840 and everything was shut down. And being that she was 275 00:15:29.179 --> 00:15:32.019 already sick and she had numerous other health conditions, she 276 00:15:32.039 --> 00:15:35.100 would have been at a high risk for contracting COVID. 277 00:15:35.620 --> 00:15:38.830 And we kept her and her husband healthy. So I 278 00:15:38.850 --> 00:15:41.029 think that was just one of the many stories that 279 00:15:41.129 --> 00:15:43.289 has proven to be beneficial for this program. 280 00:15:43.909 --> 00:15:47.230 Yes. I'm sure you could tell probably many stories about 281 00:15:47.929 --> 00:15:51.509 COVID and how it changed the way that you probably 282 00:15:51.570 --> 00:15:54.929 delivered care as well as how we did. I know 283 00:15:55.049 --> 00:15:57.409 it was, it's hopefully something we won't have to deal 284 00:15:57.470 --> 00:16:01.230 with again in our lifetime. Right. Um, what are you 285 00:16:01.309 --> 00:16:04.629 most proud of when you think about Baldwin EMS and 286 00:16:04.649 --> 00:16:06.049 the role it plays in our community? 287 00:16:07.080 --> 00:16:09.580 I'm just proud of the staff we have at Baldwin EMS. 288 00:16:09.740 --> 00:16:12.340 We have two community paramedics right now that are going 289 00:16:12.419 --> 00:16:17.120 out providing care. Myself and two other full-time staff members 290 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:20.840 took the time out to get community paramedics certified to 291 00:16:20.879 --> 00:16:24.500 help fill in. You know, those are evenings that we 292 00:16:24.539 --> 00:16:29.559 had to spend taking classes and it wasn't twisting arms. 293 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:32.580 It was who wants to do this? And it was volunteers, right? 294 00:16:32.600 --> 00:16:34.820 It was, we want to go out and help these people. 295 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:39.440 And it's just You know, it's awesome to see that 296 00:16:39.480 --> 00:16:43.850 we have those providers that want to provide care to 297 00:16:43.870 --> 00:16:46.929 the people in the community. And it's not a, do 298 00:16:46.990 --> 00:16:49.710 I have to, it's I want to. And that's what's 299 00:16:49.750 --> 00:16:51.809 really awesome to see. And it's awesome to see that 300 00:16:51.850 --> 00:16:54.480 we have a hospital network with Western Wisconsin Health that 301 00:16:55.019 --> 00:16:57.379 has the same passion to do that for the community. 302 00:16:57.399 --> 00:17:00.539 And that's just something that I'm very proud to be 303 00:17:00.580 --> 00:17:01.580 part of in this area. 304 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:07.160 Absolutely. Absolutely. I think your new beautiful building is another 305 00:17:07.299 --> 00:17:09.700 benefit to our community. I know we get to spend 306 00:17:09.740 --> 00:17:12.180 some time there in the training room. Can you tell 307 00:17:12.220 --> 00:17:14.519 us a little bit about that new facility and how 308 00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:16.900 it's helped you be able to deliver better care? 309 00:17:18.180 --> 00:17:22.349 Yes. In February of 24, we moved into our new 310 00:17:22.420 --> 00:17:25.769 ambulance building over there on Cedar, just past the Wisconsin 311 00:17:25.789 --> 00:17:27.710 Credit Union. The Village of Baldwin built it for us. 312 00:17:28.690 --> 00:17:32.930 We're very grateful. Our old building was old. It was 313 00:17:32.990 --> 00:17:36.170 small and cramped. For the full-time staff, we worked in 314 00:17:36.190 --> 00:17:40.609 an

inside room with no windows, very little airflow. Our 315 00:17:40.650 --> 00:17:45.250 new building is designed for growth. We can sleep all 316 00:17:45.269 --> 00:17:47.410 the staff that's on call at night. So we used 317 00:17:47.430 --> 00:17:49.779 to have staff sleeping on couches or in the back 318 00:17:49.819 --> 00:17:54.220 of the ambulances or in pickup trucks. The new building 319 00:17:54.259 --> 00:17:57.000 allows us to train our staff. We have the space 320 00:17:57.039 --> 00:17:59.279 for training. We have a kitchen that doesn't flood. 321 00:18:01.299 --> 00:18:05.240 Well, it's important not to flood that, right? That must 322 00:18:05.299 --> 00:18:06.779 be a story behind that. 323 00:18:07.259 --> 00:18:13.269 Every spring. Okay. But it allowed us to be able 324 00:18:13.309 --> 00:18:16.410 to provide the living accommodations to encourage staff to stay 325 00:18:16.430 --> 00:18:18.670 at the station. So it helped develop more of a 326 00:18:18.710 --> 00:18:23.279 family-like atmosphere on the crew. They do crew dinners now 327 00:18:23.559 --> 00:18:26.759 much more frequently, pretty much every night. Even the people 328 00:18:26.839 --> 00:18:32.019 that live in town come down if they don't have Family, 329 00:18:32.579 --> 00:18:34.819 they come down by themselves, but oftentimes you'll see the 330 00:18:35.019 --> 00:18:37.359 spouse and the kids there too, eating dinner with the crew. 331 00:18:39.049 --> 00:18:44.230 We train, they have a gas grill outside, gas fire pit, 332 00:18:44.250 --> 00:18:46.390 and in the evenings they're out there hanging out. It's 333 00:18:46.430 --> 00:18:50.109 become more of a family-like atmosphere. We are fully staffed 334 00:18:50.150 --> 00:18:53.950 with volunteers. We have a wait list for employees. So 335 00:18:54.789 --> 00:18:58.130 it's been a, just helped solidify the service. 336 00:18:59.509 --> 00:19:02.309 That is really wonderful. We're very lucky in Baldwin to 337 00:19:02.349 --> 00:19:05.509 be able to have that. What is the service area 338 00:19:05.529 --> 00:19:06.329 that you cover? 339 00:19:08.170 --> 00:19:12.740 We cover roughly 250 square miles of St. Croix County, 340 00:19:13.099 --> 00:19:18.599 sort of the central, southern, eastern part of it. We 341 00:19:18.619 --> 00:19:22.720 go from the outskirts of Roberts in the south eastern 342 00:19:22.740 --> 00:19:24.799 part of Warren Township all the way to the Dunn 343 00:19:24.839 --> 00:19:29.769 County line on 94, so we get The southern townships, 344 00:19:29.829 --> 00:19:34.569 we also cover the village of Hammond, Baldwin, obviously, Woodville, 345 00:19:34.609 --> 00:19:39.880 and Wilson. We get up into Springfield Township, Baldwin, Hammond, 346 00:19:39.900 --> 00:19:43.359 Aaron Prairie. Not all the townships. We share some of 347 00:19:43.380 --> 00:19:46.319 that with Glenwood City and New Richmond. We share Katy 348 00:19:46.359 --> 00:19:54.380 with Spring Valley. But it's geopolitical boundaries. We cover 13 municipalities. 349 00:19:55.119 --> 00:19:57.769 That's a lot bigger than I thought. How many different 350 00:19:57.809 --> 00:19:58.769 vehicles do you have? 351 00:19:59.549 --> 00:20:03.809 We have three ambulances, two fly cars, those Ford Explorers, 352 00:20:05.069 --> 00:20:07.329 one pickup truck that can pull a UTV on a 353 00:20:07.369 --> 00:20:08.730 trailer or a disaster trailer. 354 00:20:10.740 --> 00:20:13.779 That's more robust than I imagined as well. So I 355 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:16.589 think I'm learning quite a bit about Baldwin EMS today. 356 00:20:17.380 --> 00:20:19.950 So you mentioned before that you went to school for 357 00:20:19.990 --> 00:20:23.170 teaching and then at this new facility that you have 358 00:20:23.190 --> 00:20:28.569 a training space. Do you do any specific training externally 359 00:20:28.670 --> 00:20:33.109 for other people in the community, any CPR training classes 360 00:20:33.190 --> 00:20:34.009 or anything like that? 361 00:20:34.630 --> 00:20:38.960 Yeah, we're actually an American Heart Association training site. So 362 00:20:39.000 --> 00:20:43.500 we can train for CPR, ACLS, and PELS. So we 363 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:47.460 can train instructors or provide those classes for either first-time 364 00:20:48.200 --> 00:20:51.660 people to get their initial certification or renewal certification for those. 365 00:20:52.529 --> 00:20:56.089 Myself and several staff members are instructors. So we host 366 00:20:56.150 --> 00:20:58.869 classes on a regular basis. We work with local community 367 00:20:58.910 --> 00:21:02.069 education for both Baldwin and we're working with St. Croix 368 00:21:02.089 --> 00:21:06.109 Central to be on the community ed list. So we 369 00:21:06.150 --> 00:21:09.130 work with them and we do a babysitter training first 370 00:21:09.230 --> 00:21:11.960 aid for those middle schoolers that want to get into babysitting. 371 00:21:12.299 --> 00:21:15.640 Okay. And is signing up for that through that community 372 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:16.480 ed magazine? 373 00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:17.160 Yep. 374 00:21:17.339 --> 00:21:19.579 Is that how people would be able to sign up 375 00:21:19.640 --> 00:21:20.680 for that if they needed to? 376 00:21:20.700 --> 00:21:23.700 Yeah, the Baldwin District website, the community ed link. 377 00:21:23.740 --> 00:21:27.559 Yep. Do you still do bike helmet fitting? 378 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:30.900 We do not. Molly Lambert took that over here. 379 00:21:30.920 --> 00:21:31.180 Okay. 380 00:21:31.619 --> 00:21:33.829 They had better storage facilities for bike helmets. 381 00:21:34.029 --> 00:21:38.759 Great. How about any type of like child seat safety 382 00:21:38.900 --> 00:21:40.160 checks or anything like that? 383 00:21:40.940 --> 00:21:43.900 We work with you guys. We host, I think, quarterly, 384 00:21:43.960 --> 00:21:47.200 you guys use our apparatus bay to do car seat clinics. 385

00:21:47.480 --> 00:21:50.390 And we just had the car seat clinic guy out 386 00:21:50.410 --> 00:21:53.430 here teaching a class for new instructors or technicians. 387 00:21:53.829 --> 00:21:54.089 Okay. 388 00:21:54.609 --> 00:21:57.210 So we have people at our station all the time 389 00:21:57.930 --> 00:22:00.279 doing classes for various sorts of things. 390 00:22:00.710 --> 00:22:03.150 So many other ways that we partner other than the 391 00:22:03.210 --> 00:22:04.650 community paramedic program. 392 00:22:04.829 --> 00:22:06.829 We're always working. Now we got Red Cross Blood Drive. 393 00:22:06.869 --> 00:22:10.029 We work with you guys. You guys push them our way. 394 00:22:10.049 --> 00:22:12.990 So we host that every eight weeks at our station. 395 00:22:13.509 --> 00:22:15.430 You know, I don't know that we push them your 396 00:22:15.470 --> 00:22:18.690 way because we still host them here too. So I 397 00:22:18.730 --> 00:22:21.420 think that there's plenty of opportunities for listeners to go 398 00:22:21.460 --> 00:22:23.839 and donate blood if they want at either our facility 399 00:22:23.960 --> 00:22:24.480 or yours. 400 00:22:25.019 --> 00:22:27.650 Go to the website. Correct. Get an appointment. 401 00:22:27.849 --> 00:22:30.569 Yes. Very good. We always like to wrap up our 402 00:22:30.630 --> 00:22:35.150 episodes by asking you what drives you. Tell us a 403 00:22:35.170 --> 00:22:38.410 little bit about, you know, Tom and your purpose and 404 00:22:38.450 --> 00:22:39.039 your why. 405 00:22:40.410 --> 00:22:41.960 I mean, like I said, I started off because I 406 00:22:41.980 --> 00:22:44.980 didn't know how to help somebody if they're injured and 407 00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:48.299 it just kept snowballing from there. I just enjoy helping 408 00:22:48.339 --> 00:22:51.140 people and being there when they need help and it 409 00:22:51.180 --> 00:22:52.980 just keeps going and we keep trying to be on 410 00:22:53.000 --> 00:22:56.920 the forefront of what is the next thing, the best 411 00:22:56.940 --> 00:22:59.079 thing they can do from, you know, we put ultrasounds 412 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:00.720 on our trucks a few years ago. We just put 413 00:23:00.779 --> 00:23:03.900 antibiotics on our ambulances here last week for open fractures. 414 00:23:04.910 --> 00:23:06.890 We just want to keep helping the community. Whatever the 415 00:23:06.930 --> 00:23:08.690 next thing is that can benefit them, we're going to 416 00:23:08.730 --> 00:23:09.609 try to get on our trucks. 417 00:23:10.930 --> 00:23:13.869 You know, with the evolution of everything, technology, you think 418 00:23:13.950 --> 00:23:16.619 about all of these pieces that have made delivering care 419 00:23:17.160 --> 00:23:19.779 easier for us and we're able to save lives in 420 00:23:19.799 --> 00:23:22.420 many different ways. So it is kind of exciting to 421 00:23:22.500 --> 00:23:25.369 see that. Good. Well, thank you for joining us and 422 00:23:25.410 --> 00:23:28.329 sharing more about the important work Baldwin EMS is doing 423 00:23:28.349 --> 00:23:31.630 in our community. The Community Paramedic Program is a great 424 00:23:31.670 --> 00:23:35.170 example of what can happen when local health care partners 425 00:23:35.509 --> 00:23:37.890 work together to bring care beyond the walls of the 426 00:23:37.950 --> 00:23:41.140 hospital and directly to the people who need it most. 427 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:44.700 At Western Wisconsin Health, we believe in building a healthier 428 00:23:44.759 --> 00:23:49.359 tomorrow together. Partnerships like this remind us that improving the 429 00:23:49.420 --> 00:23:53.250 health of our communities is truly a team effort. Thank 430 00:23:53.269 --> 00:23:56.380 you for listening to Redefining Rural Healthcare. We hope you'll 431 00:23:56.410 --> 00:23:59.180 join us for our next episode as we continue sharing 432 00:23:59.240 --> 00:24:02.779 the people, ideas, and partnerships that are making a difference 433 00:24:02.920 --> 00:24:06.740 in rural healthcare. And as always, remember, your health is 434 00:24:06.779 --> 00:24:07.269 your wealth. 435 00:24:08.869 --> 00:24:11.390 Thank you for listening and be sure to subscribe so 436 00:24:11.430 --> 00:24:14.490 you don't miss one minute of this important health information. 437 00:24:14.910 --> 00:24:18.950 Visit www.health.org to learn more about all of the services 438 00:24:19.019 --> 00:24:22.059 we offer. Thanks for joining us through this journey and 439 00:24:22.140 --> 00:24:25.509 helping us redefine rural healthcare. Till next time.