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Karla Pankow, NRP, CCP-C, EMS Director North Shore Health Ambulance shared a story about a BWCA rescue the ambulance crew performed.
May I just take a moment to brag a bit about this EMS crew?
At 5:58 a.m. June 29, we were dispatched to Beth Lake in the Boundary Waters. The Beaver seaplane was unable to fly.
Without hesitation, we ventured out under the guidance of one of our own EMTs, Eric (who, along with volunteer Dennis, responded on his day off to represent Search & Rescue).
After traversing across three lakes (Sawbill to Alton to Beth Lake) and a couple of portages, we finally made contact with our patient at 9 a.m.
On the return trip back to Sawbill, our patient began seizing in the canoe that held Shalom, Ben, and me. Had it not been for the calm and collected efforts of Shalom, Ben, and Eric while I was treating the patient, we certainly could’ve capsized.
After eight miles of canoeing and nearly a mile of portaging, we made it safely back to land and our ambulance. From there, we continued to stabilize and treat our patient, ultimately intercepting with Life Link III at the Lutsen Fire Hall.
Not every 911 call lasts seven hours, but when they do, it’s pretty great to have such an amazing team on your side.
Kudos to Eric who, not only responded on his day off, but assumed Incident Command and navigated the Boundary Waters with ease.
To Ben and Shalom who threw those canoes over their shoulders and portaged across steep and rocky terrain like it was a part of their daily routine and were my right hand with patient care.
We’re all feeling those muscles a little bit more today, but we did the best we could with what few resources we had yesterday, and it truly made a difference in our patient’s life.
In EMT and medic school, they don’t teach us how to handle calls and rescues like yesterday’s event, but this crew tackled it head on and I’m so very proud.
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