St. Louis County Rescue Squad Trains in Members New and Old

The St. Louis County Rescue Squad has 67 members.

DULUTH, Minn.- St. Louis County is roughly the size of the state of New Jersey.

It’s the largest county East of the Mississippi with a rising population of over two hundred thousand.

The past three years, the St. Louis County Rescue Squad has responded to a record breaking number of calls, helping thousands ‘get out of a jam.’

The group of volunteers put in countless hours preparing for any situation that may be thrown their way.

“We are an all–volunteer unit, there’s 67 of us, we perform search and rescue services in St. Louis county,” rescue squad captain Rick Slatten said.

The St. Louis County Rescue Squad has been responding to calls across the Northland for 61 years.

“We do wilderness search and rescue, water rescue and recovery, we do first aid and heavy extraction out on county roadways,” Slatten said.

It’s a volunteer unit.

“Really that’s the entry level position to get in the game is to be a public spirited volunteer. Everything after that is mandatory,” Slatten said.

If current members decide you’re capable of joining the squad, you have two years to learn 122 basic competencies.

“We definitely have skills that together build a very well–rounded team,” squad member Daniel Hamilton said.

Each member brings a unique set of skills to the team. Some of them are computer geniuses. Dan Hamilton is a rope recreation expert.

I’m very big about developing the next generation,” Hamilton said.

He helps teach what the team calls a ‘low frequency, high risk’ skill.

“It doesn’t happen very often, we don’t get a lot of real world practice with it, but it’s something that if you make a mistake there are very big consequences,” Hamilton said.

The rescue squad goes through intense training like the rescue scramble. Squad members are given dozens of scenarios to respond to.

“It’s a safe environment for everybody to practice in,” squad member Paasch said.

It looks like a game, but the scenarios are based on real calls the squad has responded to in the past.

“We want to show our members and everybody here something real, something that has been seen before and situations that they will run into,”Paasch said.

For example, a rollover car accident caused by a drunken driver.

Squad members had to take care of three victims in this case. One of them was trapped in the truck that rolled over.

Fox 21’s Viktoria Capek participated- hanging from a three story structure, squad members had to get her down.

The rescue squad is taught to talk through everything they’re doing with the person they’re helping.

“If we’re blessed with the opportunity to save a life, we will. But we’re in the helping people out of a jam business,” Paasch said.

It’s very rare when the rescue squad responds to life or death situations. They’re trained to, as they like to say, help people out of a jam.

“It could possibly be the worst day of somebody’s life and it’s very rewarding to be there, to be able to help them and essentially help our community be a safer place,” Paasch said.

Rescue squad members are careful not to call themselves experts in anything.

They call themselves students because they never stop learning. Be that through training, real situations or learning from each other, they’re always looking for the best ways to help anyone who may need them in or around St. Louis County.