Bringing order to chaos: EMS volunteers respond in times of need

When their pagers tone, the Colfax Emergency Medical Service volunteers head to the fire hall, no matter what time of day or night. They are on duty 24/7.

Valerie Wall, who moved to Colfax in 2001 and lives in a nine-apartment complex with other senior citizens, said that whenever she’s called them for an emergency, the EMS volunteers come quickly.

“These are our neighbors who are taking care of us,” she said.

“They are always cheerful,” she said.

“No matter the weather, how late or how early, they come,” she said.

Four volunteers, with a combined 88 years of service, met at the fire hall recently for an informal chat about why they volunteer.

Clark Capwell, Fire Chief of Colfax Volunteer Firemen, has been a volunteer firefighter and EMT overall for 33 years, and in Colfax for 18 years.

“The tones go off on our pagers and whoever can, responds,” Capwell said. “It works.”

Justin Williams, the youngest of the group who just turned 18, is the newest member with just one week under his belt, but is quick to point out he’s been going to meetings for about a year. Now that he’s 18, he can officially be a member.

It started out as a senior project.

“I like to do this,” Williams said, who is following in his father’s footsteps. Jason Williams has been a volunteer firefighter for six years in Endicott. Eventually, the younger Williams wants to make this a career, he said.

“I like to help people,” Williams said. “There’s an adrenaline rush, you don’t know what you’re getting into. I love doing what we do.”

Williams said when he’s on a call, he is absolutely focused and preparing to go into whatever the situation calls for.

“My heart’s pumping and I’m ready to go,” he said. “Everything clears out of your head.”

Former Fire Chief Jim Krouse, 67, has been with the department for 41 years. He took the first EMT class in Whitman County in 1972. Most of his fellow volunteers still call him “chief.”

Krouse’s father, Earl, also was a fire chief in the 1940s, and although his father was very involved with the department, Krouse’s mother sheltered him from the department.

“She didn’t like the fire department because it took so much time away from our family,” he said. Nevertheless, Krouse joined the department in September 1969.

“I like helping people,” he said. “This country and this community gives us a lot. This is my service to my community and my country. It’s a Divine calling for me. I get more than I ever give.”

Milt Groom, an accountant who has been a firefighter and EMS volunteer for 14 years, said there’s something about serving that draws him to volunteer.

“It’s very satisfying to help people,” he said.

“You show up and they have a frown on their face and you fix it. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”

“I’ll keep on until I’m not able to do the job any more.”

Capwell said he started when he lived in Uniontown because he’d always had an interest in it.

From there, he moved to Pomeroy and he joined the local fire department there.

“To me, it’s been an evolution,” he said. “I joined because of the excitement.”

“There has to be an underlying desire to help people,” he said.

There are 38 volunteers, including 10 women. Capwell said the total calls run out of the Colfax station for 2012 was 788, a slight decrease compared to the last few years. The average for the last four years, 2009 through 2012, is 863 runs per year.

“Being in a small town, you know everybody and sometimes it’s hard,” Groom said. “You know you can do something for them, but sometimes it’s tough.”

Krouse recalled one incident when a call went out about someone at the bottom of Pampa Pond, south of LaCrosse. When he and a partner arrived, they asked who the victim was.

“It was my cousin’s child,” Krouse said, and the child didn’t survive.

“When you don’t know what to do, who do you call?” Capwell said.

“Most people call us because there’s chaos,” Krouse said. “We bring order to chaos.”

Krouse also said it became difficult for him to take his family in the car for Sunday outings because he’d seen so many wrecks.

That’s when Krouse figured he needed help. A team from Spokane counseled him about post traumatic stress.

“They helped me figure out why my dad died,” he said.

The volunteers also know when emotions stretch thin, they can “defuse.”

“We talk among ourselves,” Krouse said.

But when situations arise where more professional help is needed, the debriefing team comes in to assist.

“The number on the roster doesn’t tell the whole story,” Capwell said. “Some families have made considerable sacrifices.”

Groom agreed.

“Families sacrifice,” he said. “They give up something too.”

Krouse said he had to leave his family one Christmas Eve.

“All of our family was there and I got a call and left,” he said. “We got to the accident and an elderly couple was killed. They were on their way to see their family because there were Christmas presents piled in the back seat.”

“If I had to sum it up, we’re able to make a positive difference,” Capwell said. “We try not to become too personally attached to people.”

“There’s only so much you can do,” Groom said. “The rest is in the Maker’s hands.”

“Death is a part of life,” Krouse said.

Capwell said that although they get paid per call, nobody does this for the money.

“I’ve got a job to pay the bills so I can do this,” he said.

“There’s something in your heart,” Groom said.

“There’s more to it than excitement,” Capwell said. “The reality is you don’t know you can do it until you’ve tried it, until you’ve experienced it.”

“It’s hours of boredom interspersed with minutes of sheer terror,” he said.

“Everyone starts for a different reason.”

Williams said he prefers firefighting over EMS.

“I prefer the physical work and I like the challenge,” he said.

“I don’t think people realize how much commitment goes into this,” he said.

Capwell said they are always looking for volunteers.

“We don’t see the same volunteer spirit because so many things pull people in different directions,” Capwell said.

Capwell also said the volunteers do other things besides respond to emergency calls and fight fires.

They are known for the annual Firemen’s Toy Box toy drive, cooking breakfast for the Hullabaloo in the fall, picnics for families and friends.

“Volunteering goes far beyond service,” Capwell said.