Last night was the annual Appreciation Dinner for the members of the Lower St. Croix Valley Fire Department. I've been with the department for almost 7 years now. Every one of our firefighters is trained as an EMT before they can take the firefighter courses. We have some members who are EMT only, but the majority are both EMT and FF. We run our own ambulance service, too. I'm EMT and have completed FF II.
Our department, like many in Minnesota, and around the county, is a 'volunteer' department. When our pagers go off, we respond to the emergency if we are able to. So, if we're out of the area, or at an appointment, we aren't able to. When I tell people that, they often ask "what if nobody responds?"... I suppose there is that chance, but it hasn't so far. We have people that work in the area, people who work odd shifts, and we just always have what we need. We have 'mutual aid' agreements with other cities' fire departments. That means that we can call upon them, and they call upon us if there is a situation that needs more resources than are available. That happens when there's a fire - departments get called in and we all work together to put the fire out.
The dinner last night was a really good one. Our members attend, and can bring a guest, the mayors of the cities we serve are invited, the governing board for our department comes, and the chiefs from the mutual aid towns come too. The food was excellent, and there were awards and a special recognition for our chief - he's been with the department for 30 years!
One of the members of our governing board read a special letter we got this year. It was from a guy who we helped last winter when he had cardiac trouble while snowshoeing. His letter talked about us climbing down the ravine to get him, and carry him back up to a waiting ALS ambulance. He wrote that he is alive today due to quick response from our department (our average response time is less than 4 minutes!), we had an AED (an automatic defibrilator) with us, and we had an ALS ambulance meet us at the scene. It was a very touching letter, and it makes us feel good to know that not only did we touch that man's life, but the lives of his wife, kids, brothers, father - all impacted because that man lived.
If you've ever thought about serving your community - check with your local fire department. See if you can join up with them. Its a great honor to be with the Lower St. Croix Valley Fire Department.
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