Answering the call: Six new EMTs join Libby Volunteer Ambulance

The challenges of running a volunteer ambulance service are countless, but the dedicated denizens in Libby have been doing it for more than 50 years.

The service, launched in 1970, has battled the same problems many emergency service providers have for years. They include a lack of volunteers as well as funding sources.

But the service got a welcome boost earlier this fall with six new emergency medical technicians, including Charles Christianson, Jordan Stanley, Stephanie Benke-Smith, Blaire Armstrong, Jared Sonju and Brian Crompton.

Joe Chopyak, Libby Volunteer Ambulance’s medical director and a physician’s assistant at Northwest Community Health Center, said the 25 volunteer EMTs are the most they’ve had in the last 10 years.

“We’re on thin ice with having enough volunteers so we really appreciate being able to have new crew members,” Chopyak said.

Penny Kyes has volunteered with Libby Volunteer Ambulance for 31 years.

“When I started in 1993, we had about 50,” Kyes said. “We are an aging community and the calls are increasing. Last year we had 850 and this year we are on pace for 1,100.”

"Hundreds of calls, about one third, do not require transportation, so that’s lost revenue for us,” Kyes said. “We can only bill for transports per loaded mile.

“But we still answer all the calls,” she said. “Some of our members are business owners and they close their doors to answer calls.”

Libby Volunteer Amublance gets about $32,000 from voted mills in the county.

To become an EMT, individuals must be certified by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians. That includes 110 hours of class time and hands-on instruction.

“It typically takes four months to attain certification, but those applying have one year from the time they begin the program,” Chopyak said.

EMT Wendy Chopyak, who joined the team in 2020, said the new technicians who were recently certified are a mix of newcomers and longtime residents.

“It’s a huge commitment,” she said. “They have to be on call for 48 hours a month and there are two-hour business meeting and two-hour training sessions each month.

“Most of them are in their 20s and 30s and excited to help their community.”

Joe Chopyak said the fact that most of them are already working in the health care field makes it very helpful.

“It honestly takes a few years before new EMTs can fly solo, but those with experience in the medical field can overcome the hurdles that exist.”

He explained that new EMTs are on probation status for about three months. They are evaluated during that time, but the goal is to have newcomers respond with an experienced technician.

Kyes wanted to remind local residents that the service’s building was not taxpayer-supported.

“We saved for years and years and financed the rest of the cost of the barn,” Kyes said. “We exercised good fiscal responsibility to get that.”

EMS are facing more issues than ever before, too.

In a report by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services Emergency Medical Services and Trauma System Section, Montanans are dying from injury at a rate greater than any time since 1979. It also said 100,000 residents have less access to specialized care as trauma centers struggle to support the training, equipment and staffing needed to care for severely injured patients.

It also shared figures about the negative effects of drug use. The rate of injuries with marijuana, stimulants such as methamphetamine and opioids, like fentanyl, have increased dramatically.

Between 2010 and 2022, injury-related emergency department visits with concurrent marijuana use increased more than 400% Those with concurrent stimulant use increased 1,000% and fall-related emergency department visits, mostly among elderly patients using opioids, increased 400%

The state report said solutions include the Department of Public Health and Human Services’ Medicaid paying ambulance services that treat patients who don’t need transport to emergency departments, passing a bill that authorizes an ambulance provider assessment to increase CMS Medicaid payments and funding a grant program to trauma centers to offset training, preparedness costs and unrecovered treatment costs associated with illicit drug use. Another idea was to increase funding for the EMS Providers Grant Program.

“We’re not an essential service, so that causes many problems,” Kyes said.

Unlike fire suppression and law enforcement, EMS is not labeled essential. As of 2023, 13 states and the District of Columbia passed laws deeming EMS an essential service with various methods of funding.

“A mechanism to get more funding is not on the top of the list for most politicians, but it should be,” Kyes said.