The emergency medical service in remote Hinsdale County has undergone a lot of changes this year. This summer, the organization got a new chief paramedic, lost its remaining EMS captain, and the county board of commissioners terminated the EMS director. Recently, the commissioners appointed Chief Paramedic David Jepsen as interim director for Hinsdale County EMS. As part of our continuing coverage of EMS services on the Western Slope, KVNF's Laura Palmisano interviews Jepsen about what's next for the small, mostly volunteer agency.
Palmisano: Hinsdale County EMS has gone through some changes lately, including losing two captains. What is next for the agency heading forward?
Jepsen: That's actually something I've been working on quite aggressively to build our foundation back. Right now, we have three folks that are in Advanced EMT training, which will give them the training they need for that first-tier of advanced life support. We've got another person who's looking to go to Advanced EMT school in the spring. From that core of people, we're looking to rebuild our captain ranks and continue to build a good foundation for the future.
Palmisano: What are some of the challenges the agency is facing?
Jepsen: We're facing the big rural EMS problem nationwide, and that is people. Finding the number of people we need in a county like Hinsdale is a challenge. We've got a very small pool of people to pick from, and I've got three folks that are getting ready to promote to Advanced EMT. We've got a fourth in the not-too-distant future who is going to begin training and then promote. So, we definitely need some more people to backfill those positions as these people promote to Advanced EMT.
Palmisano: And what about the need for drivers?
Jepsen: We definitely need drivers as well. We've got a couple of core folks who are drivers right now, but we are looking to bring in a couple more. We've got a few people on the hook, and as things start slowing down this fall, I'm going to put together a drivers academy to get them brought up to speed.
Over the winter, we'll do an Emergency Medical Responder class here in Lake City, which will help those folks go from being just a layperson driver to a much bigger part of our emergency medical response team. With the EMR training, they'll be able to have tasks delegated to them—whether it's helping get a set of vitals, helping get someone on the cardiac monitor, or things along those lines. It'll make them a more active participant in each call.
Palmisano: And these positions we're talking about are volunteer positions?
Jepsen: Correct. Our agency is mostly volunteer at this point in time.
Palmisano: You're a paramedic yourself. What experience are you bringing to Hinsdale County?
Jepsen: I've been in EMS for 36 years now. I started out volunteering on a small ambulance service that was combined with the local fire department in a town about the same size as Lake City—a town of 400 people.
Palmisano: Where was that?
Jepsen: That was just outside of the Minneapolis–St. Paul area, in a town I grew up in. From there, I got the depth of experience needed to apply to paramedic school. I've been a paramedic for 31 years now and have had the opportunity to work in small and large agencies on the Front Range. I spent right about a decade working as a flight paramedic, and I've also spent a bunch of time working as a community paramedic. I had been working in Delta as a community paramedic, and then I retired about a year ago. I was still in that transition phase when a couple of people reached out to me about the opportunity up here in Hinsdale County.
Palmisano: And why did you decide to take on the position here?
Jepsen: One, to help the community keep the advanced life support certification for the agency. And two, I still just love EMS [and] having seen the ambulance service that I started with close down, I have the inner desire to try and help keep EMS local where it's best derived.
