Answering the call

BIG LAKE -- The crew at the Big Lake Fire Department recently received several accolades for its excellent service record.

The department handles three separate emergency response areas: firefighting, medical response and general rescue. What is particularly unique about the Big Lake/Meadow Lakes department is that all of its workers are cross-trained in each of these three disciplines. Therefore, the workers riding in an ambulance with a heart attack victim one day may be managing a fire hose the next.

Another part of what makes the Big Lake/Meadow Lakes department so remarkable is its employment of exclusively volunteer workers. The department has about 50 workers total, but has no full-time employees; the force consists entirely of volunteers.

Bill Gamble, district chief for Big Lake and Meadow Lakes, said all of his volunteers have full-time jobs outside of the world of emergency response. The department employs lawyers, teachers, North Slope workers and others from a multitude of professions. So in addition to handling all aspects of emergency response, these men and women must worry about a full-time career.

"People come here from all walks of life," said Gambel, who is himself an air traffic controller in Anchorage. Gambel's volunteers wear pagers to their places of work that inform them of emergencies in the area, and when one comes along they drop everything and rush to the scene.

Gambel believes that the response time of his emergency workers is in no way compromised by the fact that they work in different locations.

"We have one of the most, if not the most, responsive departments in the state," he said.

The dual drain on the time of the volunteers leaves precious little room for personal pursuits -- requiring dedication by the volunteers.

"This kind of acts as a substitute for a social life," said Assistant Ambulance Chief Patty Stuart, who works a second job as a longshorewoman.

"It takes a lot of family time away from you to become trained and to maintain your certification," added Gambel, who said that holders of emergency certifications must meet multiple times every month to maintain each of those certifications. The department holds four training nights every month for fire training, twice a month for EMS training, and twice a month for rescue training.

However, Stuart also mentioned that the small, close-knit group of responders in the department makes every day a social act in itself.

"We all know our neighbors around here," she said. "Emergencies don't just affect you on a professional level; they affect you on a personal level as well."

The department is also feeling some growing pains, much like the rest of the Valley.

"We've seen a phenomenal increase in run volume over the past few years," said Gambel, who noted that calls made to the department have grown by 15 to 25 percent each year in the recent past.

Last year, the department responded to 537 calls, and this year they have already responded to more than 620, with two months still remaining in the schedule. Gambel attributes the increased business to the rapid population growth of the Valley and the ever-increasing popularity of Big Lake as a recreational area.

"This is one of the most popular recreational areas in the state," Stuart said. "We respond to a huge amount of recreational vehicle accidents."

Stuart added that the department performs rescues on incidents involving a huge variety of small and large vehicles.

"If it has wheels and it rolls, it crashes," she said.

In recognition of its excellent record of service and quick response, the ambulance division of the department was awarded the Bob Grosse Community Service Award from the Big Lake Chamber of Commerce on April 10. The award, commemorating one of the founders of the chamber, is awarded annually to individuals, groups or businesses who have performed outstanding services to the Big Lake area.

The ambulance crew was nominated for the award by Barb Blaisdell and Rita Huss, two emergency-room nurses at Valley Hospital.

"It's a big deal for us to be nominated by people we hold in high regard, especially in an emergency room, which is such a difficult arena to work in," Gambel said.

"Big Lake EMS has an enormous responsibility that they accept with great pride and honor," wrote the nurses in their nomination statement.

The department also recently received hand-held Global Positioning Systems (GPS) units from the Big Lake and Meadow Lakes community councils in recognition of their services. These devices allow responders to pinpoint the location of incidents and direct rescue efforts, including helicopter rescue and firefighting, accordingly.

Gambel is somewhat distressed by the decline in volunteer emergency workers, a trend he said has been evident since the 1980s.

He said this may be due in part to the large amount of training involved -- roughly 150 hours for firefighters and EMT technicians, with additional specialized training as time allows. However, Gambel said that his department, which is always short staffed, welcomes volunteers with open arms.

Contact Daniel Spoth at daniel.spoth@frontiersman.com.