BRAINERD – Imagine taking a fall on mountain bike trails in terrain that makes emergency access a challenge.
Now a specialized response team of mountain bikers who are familiar with the trails of the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area will be part of the safety net. Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Adam Kronstedt and Darrell Dwire, emergency medical technicians at Cuyuna Regional Medical Center in Crosby.
“He’s the brains behind it,” Kronstedt said of Dwire as they sat before the County Council on Tuesday, Feb. 27. “And it’s basically a group of active riders that I hope we can fill a gap and that gap being that we have active first responders who are already out with the fire departments and respond to bike crashes, emergency injuries medicine out here on the track. However, some of these trails are very difficult to reach and the speed and knowledge of where those access points are in active riders like Darrell here.”
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Kronstedt and Dwire were in front of the board that saw the official recognition of the Cuyuna Lakes Bike Rescue as a medical response unit designated to first respond to medical emergencies on the Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Trail system.
“They will treat patients on scene, and guide and assist local fire/EMS departments in locating and evacuating patients,” said a written report submitted by Kronstedt. “EMS volunteers are usually a highly specialized group of volunteers and are very difficult to find. Here is a group that is volunteering to do the coverage. The representatives of the CRMC Ambulance Service have approved that you have officially designated this team as cover this area.”
Administrator Tim Houle said that the mountain bike trails represent a unique opportunity and a unique danger in the county, He noted that it can be difficult for emergency services to respond to them, since there is a need for skills and specialized talent. This group of people, Houle said, stepped forward with these unique skills and offered to respond. Houle noted that area fire departments and local EMS, including CRMC Ambulance Services, have endorsed this designation.
“They suggested I could use some help,” Houle said. “I think that’s what you have before you a group of volunteers who offer to help.”
Council President Jon Lubke asked if they had any first responder equipment with them to help.
Dwire, who is a paramedic, registered nurse and firefighter, said it will be a little different from a regular first responder group. Team members will be trained in first aid and some are first responders, but he said they have several fire departments and the CRMC Ambulance Service to respond.
“They’re all well-trained, well-equipped to take care of these people and get them out, but our gap is the location and the type of encounter faster,” Dwire said. “So having this group of people who are familiar with the trails and are out there on bikes, knowing the ins and outs of the easiest way in and out is what’s going to be the key piece that this group is going to provide. “
Dwire said they could potentially transport equipment back and forth more quickly than people on foot and could demonstrate the easiest way in and out to extricate the patient. Kronstedt said members of Cuyuna Lakes Bike Rescue will be dispatched through active 911.
Commissioner Steve Barrows said Central Minnesota EMS, of which Crow Wing County is a part, would be part of the support group with training and perhaps some supplies.
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“We therefore recognize with the state organization, the MSRB (Medial Services Review Board), that this organization exists, and that it is just another component of the EMS system that we will support in Crow Wing County,” Barrows said.
The council unanimously recognized the Cuyuna Lakes Bike Rescue as a designated Medical Response Unit for first response to medical emergencies on the Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Lake Trail System.
Renee Richardson, managing editor, can be reached at 218-855-5852 or renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter @DispatchBizBuzz.
