Annual Picnic on Saturday, August 1

TELLURIDE — After losing teeth in 1992, breaking a leg in 1994, cracking a collarbone in 1996, and getting caught in an avalanche on Gold Hill in 1998, it’s not so hard to imagine how or why former Telluride Fire Protection District Emergency Medical Services paramedic Rob Klimek got interested in emergency medicine.

“I’ve been hurt so many freaking times,” he said.

For Emil Sante, the route to his current position overseeing the EMS as chief paramedic was plotted after he took a short Wilderness First Responder course back in 1995 at his brother’s suggestion.

“I’ve just kind of been going gung-ho about it ever since,” he explained.

Flight nurse Marcia Millar, a 30-year veteran of emergency medicine, saw the decision as a practical one.

“It’s a really good job that’s dependable in rural areas,” she said. “You’re always going to need nurses.”

Though each one of the three entered the field for different reasons, this year the Placerville Volunteer Fire Department is honoring them together at its 25th annual fundraising picnic on Saturday, August 1, for the expertise and commitment they have brought to emergency medical services in the region as members of critical care air transport teams.

“Every year we pick a person or cause we choose to honor,” said PVFD firefighter John Knowles. Of this year’s selections: “Their contribution to the EMS system has lifted up everything a whole other notch,” he said.

After getting his WFR certification in 1995, Sante became a basic Emergency Medical Technician in Telluride that same year.

While a more typical career progression would have led him to seek his intermediate EMT credentials, Sante decided to up the ante by skipping that step and entering paramedic school in 2000.

“I felt like I bit off more than I could chew,” he remembered. But after a few months everything started to click, and he completed the course in less than two years.

He was in Kauai in 2001 when he got a phone call about a paramedic job opening and has been working here in Telluride since 2002.

In 2005 Sante took over as chief paramedic responsible for overseeing the EMS throughout the TFPD’s 390 square mile range, including its staff of full-time and part-time paramedics, EMTs and nurses.

Sante joined Tri State CareFlight based in Durango in 2006, where he responds to what he described as “the worst of the worst” medical emergencies.

Air evacuation is done, he explained, “When the benefits outweigh the risks and [the patient is] really going to die if you don’t get this person somewhere fast,” he said.

Whereas many people falter under pressure, Sante is clearly not one of them.

“It feels very good,” he said. “You can go on a call and know if I don’t do something right here, right now, somebody’s going to die.”

“Nothing will feed you more than when you know, and they know, that you just saved their lives,” he added.

Millar came to Telluride from San Francisco in 1971, leaving for to train to become licensed as a registered nurse.

During her 30-year nursing career Millar has spent most of it in emergency medicine. Prior to joining St. Mary’s CareFlight based out of St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction as a full-time flight nurse 19 years ago, she worked there as an emergency room nurse where she still fills in as needed.

While the work is similar, the limited space on the helicopters and planes used for medical transport poses a unique challenge.

“On a flight there are less hands to take care of patients,” she said. “You don’t have quite as much help to call on.”

The very nature of flying must also be taken into consideration.

“You have to think about how to care for patient in higher altitude,” said Millar. “It can negatively affect a patient in certain ways.”

Despite her long career, each day is a new challenge for Millar.

“Every patient is different and every patient is specific, and that’s what makes the job interesting,” she said. “It’s a great job.”

Although Klimek recently moved to Denver where he is now a full-time paramedic for Flight For Life Colorado, the PVFD still wanted to recognize him for his service to the community.

“We already picked him and that doesn’t go away,” said Knowles. “He still put in the time and effort.”

Klimek first signed on to the EMS as an EMT in 1997, later being hired as a paramedic in 2002.

Like his fellow honorees he embraces the swift pace and challenge that are inherent to medical evacuations.

“It’s not like someone hurt their finger; most of the time it’s life threatening,” he said.

Klimek credits his experiences in Telluride for giving him the chops to assume a new, broader position that includes inter-facility transport and search and rescue duties in addition to critical care.

“Telluride gave me all those skills,” he said.

The Placerville Volunteer Fire Department invites the community to join in recognizing its guests of honor during its 25th annual fundraising picnic on Saturday, August 1, to raise money for scholarships and hardship grants awarded to those in need throughout the region. The festivities begin at 12 p.m. at the Placerville Town Park and include music, barbeque and beverages. Raffle tickets for prizes donated by local merchants will be on sale for $1 each, and tickets for a new 50-50 raffle that splits the prize money between the PVFD and the winning ticket holder are $5 each.