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EMT veteran recalls long careerHoward Blume retired n September after 28 yearsHoward Blume, a recently retired Emergency Medical Technician, has been around almost as long as the Emergency Medical System itself. He became an EMT in June 1977, just two years after the National Association of EMT’s was formed. “He holds the distinction of being an EMT longer than anyone else in New Ulm,” said Julie Halvorson, RN, manager of Emergency Services at New Ulm Medical Center. Blume retired last September. Blume’s passion for emergency medicine began when he was in the Army, stationed at an Airforce Base in Thule, Greenland as part of the Ground Rescue team. A Medford, MN. native, Blume came to New Ulm to work at 3M after earning a diploma in tool and die making. He moved to Minneapolis for a few years and was drawn back to New Ulm when a former co-worker started New Ulm Precision Tool, where he has been employed ever since. Blume recalled the early days when Martinka Motors owned the ambulance service in New Ulm. “They would get a call and the mechanics would peel off their coveralls and respond to the scene,” he explained. There wasn’t a lot of confidence in the ambulance service in those days, Blume recalled, and often a priest would be called before the ambulance was notified. “Back then, the emergency system was like that all across the United States,” Blume said. In 1965, statistics showed that more people died in auto accidents in that single year than in eight years of the Vietnam War. That was the year that President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the National Highway Safety Act. Focus on pre-hospital care began to grow and improve. “That was when they started to recognize that people were dying because they weren’t getting the emergency medical help they needed quickly enough,” Blume said. In 1971, the television show “Emergency!” debuted and it contributed to changing public attitudes about fire service and emergency medical care. When the show premiered, there were only 12 medic units in the entire country. Four years later at least 50% of the population of the country was within 10 minutes of a medic unit. In 1973, the EMS Systems Action was passed by Congress, which funded 300 regional EMS systems. Still, the EMS system looked a lot different than it does today, Blume said. “We used to keep the rigs and the radios with us when we were on call,” Blume said. “Back in the 1970’s, New Ulm was one of the only towns in the area with an ambulance. There was a much larger area to cover. Now, many of the towns around here have their own ambulance services.” The involvement of the police in emergency care has been another big factor over the years, Blume said. “The police get there so quickly and they are basically EMTs themselves. With the placement of the AEDs (Automatic External Defibrillators) in the community, we just have a much better survival rate in all kinds of scenarios.” The education of the public has also made enormous improvements in how quickly people get help. “So many people know CPR these days and that means we have improved someone’s chance of survival even more.” Safety for EMTs has also come a long way in the last 30 years, Blume said, since communicable diseases like AIDs and Hepatitis have raised awareness. “CPR was mouth-to-mouth years ago. Not only were you at risk of getting a disease, but quite often you were gagging while you were doing CPR. We all understood that was just a part of what you did. You just accepted it,” Blume said. “But, it’s probably why there was a fairly high turnover rate.” So what kept Blume from being a “turnover” statistic in this difficult field? “People forget about the human element to this job,” Blume said. “If you can cheer somebody up, or at least get them to crack a smile when they are in a tough situation, then it really makes it worth it.” “It’s not a job people can stick to for that long,” said Halvorson. “It’s just Howard’s passion for emergency medicine that has kept him going. Think about it: it is a volunteer position so they don’t get paid much; they may get called out in the middle of the night to a car accident when it is 20 below zero outside.” But, Blume always took his job very seriously, volunteer or not, Halvorson said. “He kept up on things. He went to conferences and brought back information to share with other EMTs. He was well respected by his fellow EMTs, the nurses and the doctors. When Howard had an opinion, you listened to what he had to say.” His calm, levelheaded demeanor also singled Blume out as a person that other people looked to in tough situations, Halvorson said. Blume, however, places credit elsewhere. “I have worked with some great doctors and nurses, super EMTs, educators, law enforcement ... I always got a lot of support from all them,” he said. There are currently 28 EMTs providing emergency care and transportation through New Ulm Medical Center. |
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New Ulm Medical Center
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