Submitted photo NORDIC AMBULANCE-TTAA crew members show the LUCAS chest compression device obtained through fundraising, grants and donations. It can provide automatic CPR. From right are Lisa Casey, Dayton Casey, Amanda Viane, Jackie Schemmel, Tammy Wagner and Katie Dixon.

The Nordic Ambulance-TTAA could use a few more people willing to step up when someone needs emergency medical attention in the area.

The service, run by the Tri-Township Ambulance Authority, is all volunteer, covering Felch, Breen and West Branch townships.

When Nordic Ambulance started decades ago, it had very active participation, with a good number of trained community members ready to respond when a call came in, said Lisa Casey, EMT-Basic with Nordic Ambulance-TTAA. But as time went by, crew members aged, retired, worked too far away to be available or couldn’t keep up with training requirements.

At one point, numbers had dipped so low there was concern the service might have to shut down, Casey said. That would have put the region at a disadvantage, as it takes roughly 45 minutes for an ambulance to reach Felch Township from Iron Mountain, much less the more outlying rural areas, she noted.

But the service rebounded. Two millages — for operations and new equipment — are in place to keep the ambulance ready to roll. The Tri-County Ambulance Authority, made up of two officials from each of the three townships, oversee operations along with an administrative employee added in 2020.

In coming months the service will get a newer ambulance from Star EMS, one that is still up-to-date in style and equipment and superior to the unit now in use, Casey said. For example, this ambulance has an automatic loader rather than crew members having to lift patients on a gurney into the back.

Yet the need persists for new ambulance crew members, preferably younger people, Casey said.

The service right now has five trained as emergency medical technicians, or EMTs, and one medical first responder, or MFR, plus a driver, Casey’s son. Most are women, with the majority in Felch but one now in West Branch and Hardwood.

Each run requires at least two crew members to respond and takes about four hours if transporting to Dickinson County Memorial Hospital, the most likely destination. Having an additional person who can drive — they require only minimal medical training — frees up the EMTs and MFRs to focus on the patient, Casey said, adding those who start as drivers often decide to become EMTs.

They now average about three runs a month, but during the height of the COVID-19 outbreak made more than 30 runs in about six months. In most years, the Nordic Ambulance-TTAA makes roughly 50 to 75 trips, she said. Demand tends to be seasonal, such as when the annual gun deer hunt is going or ATVs or snowmobiles are on the trails.

The townships they cover also have aging residents, some of them “snowbirds” who still want to spend summers in the north but who may bring with them health conditions that require they come out.

So the more staff available, the better service they can provide, Casey said. “If I could wish, I’d wish for more people,” she said.

Training is available locally for those who want it. For drivers, it can be done in four hours on one night, she said, covering CPR, operating an automated external defibrillator, or AED, and providing basic first aid. She can organize a session if there are applicants.

First responder courses are offered at the Northeast Wisconsin Technical College campus in Aurora, Wis., while EMT classes can be done in Iron Mountain.

If interested in joining the ambulance service, contact TTAA board president Bob Mattson at 906-280-6402.

Betsy Bloom can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 240, or bbloom@ironmountaindailynews.com.