“I love to help people. It’s a good feeling when people say, ‘Thank you.’ It’s an adrenaline rush getting into some of this stuff,” said Lambrecht during a Thursday evening training session.

He has responded to many vehicle crashes, fires and natural disasters, among other calls during his EMT career.

“I remember the March 1998 tornado that hit Comfrey,” he said. “I remember hearing the continuous thunder and seeing what looked like dust in the air.”

Lambrecht saw the debris in the air, although he was in Sleepy Eye, miles north of the storm.

Staff photo by Fritz Busch Sleepy Eye Ambulance EMT Luci Poplow (left) trains with a Lucas 3 chest compressor Thursday with instruction from EMT Gary Lambrecht (right) at the ambulance garage Thursday.

“I remember going to crashes at the intersection of County Roads 22 and 29 and State Highway 4,” he said.

Lambrecht was a shop foreman and worked for 42 years at the Sleepy Eye Del Monte plant.

At the training session, he worked with new EMT Luci Poplow on a Lucas chest compression system.

Lambrecht said the system helps EMTs use their hands to do other things during lifesaving procedures.

Sleepy Eye Ambulance coordinator Shari Hittesdorf has 32 years on the job.

“We’d love to have a lot more EMTs. We’ve got 15 people now. One person drives here from Mapleton twice a month to do a couple shifts,” said Hittesdorf. “There are people retired from full-time jobs that give us a few hours. Sometimes, its the time commitment that turns people off.”

She praised her experienced, dedicated crew and said calls are up since the COVID-19 pandemic began, making the job more challenging.

“Last year, we did 75 more runs that we did the year before. Sometimes, we help Springfield and New Ulm with mutual aid calls,” Hittesdorf added.

Thin EMT ranks is not just a local issue. The Minnesota Center For Rural Policy and Development reported EMS should be funded like other essential services like fire departments and law enforcement.

“The current funding system is designed for urban agencies, based on call volume,” read the report. “The funding formula could use population, average age and number of Medicare and Medicaid clients to create a more accurate financial picture.”

Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith’s EMS Staffing and Support Act would provide $500 million for Health Resources and Services Administration grants to fund rural EMS needs like recruitment, retention and retraining these essential workers.

In addition, it would provide training or reimbursement for training; establish apprenticeship programs; buy new equipment, vehicles and medical supplies; support EMS personnel well-being, create paramedicine initiatives and improve regional coordination.

Springfield Ambulance Coordinator Paula Thomas said she and her crew recently went door to door, handing out fliers for an ambulance meeting at 6 p.m., Saturday in the Allina Health Springfield Clinic basement, 625 N. Jackson.

“We have eight on staff now. We have day 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. shifts open,” Thomas said. “We work two-person crews but would like three-person crews. I’ve been working a lot of extra shifts.”

Springfield Ambulance provides basic life support to the community and surrounding area.

“It would be great to have a lot of people at our meeting,” said Thomas.

She said the ambulance service plans to offer a free 40-hour emergency responder class for anyone who wants to get certified, plus a free CPR class for the public.

“We want everyone to know EMS is not always blood, guts and gore. It’s about helping our neighbors,” Thomas said. “A lot of our calls are to nursing homes helping the elderly with cardiac and digestive problems. Calls for trauma like crashes, attempting suicide, falls and accident shootings are a very small percentage of our calls.”

Thomas said Springfield Ambulance has a base with places for workers to sleep if they’re on call overnight.

Hourly duty pay for going on calls is $16 an hour for EMTs, $11 for emergency medical responders. On-call pay is $2 for 6 a.m. Monday through 6 p.m. Friday and $3 from 6 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday and on holidays.

Lafayette Ambulance president Mark Dick said people have gone door to door and talk about it to people at local events and on social media.

“We have about 15 people, but a lot of us work out of town during the day. Our lives are busy,” Dick said. “There is a need. It’s a great opportunity for some people. I’ve done it for more than 40 years. Some of us are getting old.”

Dick said ambulance services are vital parts of a community and losing it would have a big impact.

For more information, visit ruralmn.org.

(Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com.)