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Rising from the ashes: Putnam County EMS named ALS Provider of the Year
It seemed like a good idea at the time.
Faced with years of rising costs and shrinking profits, the future of Putnam County Operation Life was uncertain in 2019. That was when county officials took the plunge and decided it was time to form their own government-based ambulance service in place of the longtime non-profit provider.
That change came on Jan. 1, 2022, only a couple of months before the dreaded C-word took over everyone’s lives — particularly any medical-related field.
And yet, nearly three years later, Putnam County EMS is still here, still serving the residents of Putnam County.
That was the story Putnam County Commissioner Rick Woodall told in nominating PCEMS for the Indiana Fire Chiefs Association Advanced Life Support Provider of the Year (Non-Fire Based).
And it was the story that carried the day last Friday when PCEMS was named the ALS Provider of the Year during the Indiana Emergency Response Conference.
“It was this amazing story of how this awesome little agency rose out of the ashes of the start of 2020,” said Chief Kelly Russ, who took the reins of the agency at about the same time COVID-19 was tightening its grip on society. It’s a quick turnaround that she sees as nearly unprecedented in the EMS world.
“It’s an amazing feat to earn this with the short amount of time that we did it in,” Russ said. “Some agencies can take up to a decade to kind of turn themselves around. We weren’t left with much when we walked in the door. On top of walking in without a whole lot, the uncertainty of Covid in early 2020 – for all of us to do what we did with Zoom meetings, phone conferences and not being able to meet in person – just all of it together was unbelievable.”
The award, chosen by a double-blind panel of non-EMS personnel, was based solely on a nomination letter written by Woodall in which he began by telling the story of Putnam County EMS in its embryonic phase.
“When the Putnam County government decided to take this agency on as a service, we had no idea what we were in for during the first quarter of 2020, none of us did,” Woodall wrote. “We entered the beginning of this agency without a chief of EMS, and shortly after without a deputy chief of EMS.”
Woodall went on to highlight how, even without nominal “leaders,” certain team members took the lead.
“Lt. Kylee Harrington managed supplies, EMT Martha Miller was handling the finances and scheduling, Lt. Sam Deaner was maintaining the buildings,” he wrote, “and other team members were stepping up with small maintenance projects and communication with Putnam County leaders. These amazing employees would not let it fail, and they most definitely would not let the citizens and visitors of Putnam County go without excellent care.
“In March of 2020 we brought on Chief Kelly Russ, and Deputy Chief Anthony Taylor, the same month the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic was declared,” Woodall continued. “To say their transition period into their new positions was difficult would be an understatement. Since their appointments, and despite the multiple obstacles that starting new positions and Covid created, they thrived and overpowered the constant hardships that were stacked against them during the most unprecedented times.”
During this time, the EMS team updated buildings, returned to having three bases in the county, obtained three new vehicles for their fleet, which meant two additional ALS response units. They also upgraded life-saving equipment including LUCAS CPR devices, which have aided in a number of cardiac saves since early 2020.
“Together with their outstanding team of EMS providers, they (Russ and Taylor) have brought PCEMS up to the internationally-recognized agency that they are now,” Woodall wrote. “PCEMS’s team has had multiple return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) awards given to them, healthy babies have been delivered in some of the worst weather mother nature can deliver and the relationships that they all have with other public service agencies throughout Putnam County continue to improve and thrive.”
For her part, Russ remains rather humble about the whole thing, noting that it goes far beyond the leadership she and Taylor provide.
“Anthony and I can lead all day long, but without amazing team members, we couldn’t have accomplished anything that we have,” Russ said. “It belongs to all of them, not just me and Anthony.”