By Mary Napier, Missouri EMS Connection Editor
If you are traveling through central Missouri on US Route 54, you will no doubt see some amazing views of Lake of the Ozarks on your way. Route 54 will also take you through Miller County, which borders Lake of the Ozarks on the northeast. In Miller County, you can explore caverns, spend time at the lake, or take a long drive through rural farmlands. This mix of topography and terrain provides a variety of emergency calls for Miller County Ambulance District (MCAD) and its personnel.
About the Service
MCAD was founded in April 1974 after an election to form the district. That means the district has been busy celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2024. That is quite a feat! The ambulance district covers about 550 square miles from densely populated areas around Lake of the Ozarks to spread out rural farmland. They run approximately 4,500 to 5,000 calls per year.
Normally the population of Miller County is about 25,000 residents, but during the summer that can increase by another 15,000 to 20,000 visitors who come for long summer days and nights at the lake. This poses a unique challenge for the service as they have a large coverage area and a variety of people to treat from the locals to those from large cities who come for a visit.
MCAD is able to provide basic life support (BLS), advanced life support (ALS), and transport services for the county from five stations. Their offices and headquarters are located in Eldon. Remote bases are located in Kaiser, Iberia, Tuscumbia and St. Elizabeth. They have nine trucks and one quick response vehicle to make sure they can provide the coverage needed for their county. The service runs 24/7 and is dispatched from Miller County 911 Central Dispatch.
Their mission statement states,” The Miller County Ambulance District is committed to provide the citizens of Miller County with the highest quality medical services and transport. The duties of the medical crew will be performed with the highest obtainable stands of safety, Professionalism and Respect for human life.”
Director of Operations Rexx Morrison reinforced this statement and said, “We take pride in advancing our service’s capabilities and improving ourselves.”
The district currently has 46 full- and part-time personnel at all levels from EMT to AEMT to paramedic. These personnel are highly trained in ACLS and PALS along with using advanced protocols like adult I/O, 12 Lead with the latest Zoll monitors, and Lucas devices. Quarterly trainings are held on various topics to ensure the quality of the care given to the community. To make sure the community is prepared, they also train a lot of the local industries in CPR.
The MCAD website lists the district’s values as commitment to service; respect; integrity; accountability; teamwork; and fair treatment. It also states, “The elected Board of Directors of the Miller County Ambulance District, being fully aware of the critical need for ambulance services in a very diverse district, deem that the purpose of the district will be to provide well-trained, professional employees with up-to-date equipment to operate this service efficiently for all people within the district regardless of race, color, creed, or national origin.”
As they reflect on their 50th anniversary, Morrison said, “We are proud of how far we have come since the early days of running an ambulance out of a home to five stations with fully equipped trucks.”
Personnel Highlights
Like every other ambulance district, the most important part of the organization is the people. Without the highly trained and skilled EMS professionals, the district could not provide high quality patient care to their community. Therefore, we’d like to introduce you to a few of the personnel at MCAD who help make the service successful. We don’t have enough room to feature all 46 employees, so we have only included a handful of them. However, they are all important to the ambulance district’s operations, and we thank them all for their service.
Rexx Morrison
Rexx has been in EMS for 32 years and is a paramedic. He joined EMS by starting in the fire service and attending EMT school to help handle the growing volume of EMS calls. He then went full-time into EMS and has enjoyed the variety of calls and the flexibility of the shifts. When asked about the rewards and challenges working in EMS, he said, “I enjoy keeping patients from going past the point of no return. I think the challenges are raising up the next generation of EMS people who want to make this a career.”
In the future, he sees EMS continuing to evolve as it has always done to become a system that is more responsive to the needs of the community. He thinks there is an opportunity for greater education and expanded responsibilities to help EMS become more mature and meaningful. If Rexx is not working, you might find him throwing pottery on a wheel.
Joshua DeJong
Joshua started in the volunteer fire service as a first responder and then became an EMT about 11 years ago. The fire service runs in the family as his mom and dad are both volunteer firefighters with his dad serving for nearly 30 years. Joshua wanted to do more to help people in his community, and EMS became another family for him. While trying to stay educated on the latest updates in EMS to make sure the patients get the highest level of care is a challenge, Joshua gets a sense of satisfaction from knowing he did everything he could to help someone in their time of need. Next Joshua plans to obtain his paramedic license and continue to teach EMR and EMT classes while developing his paramedic skills and eventually becoming a critical care paramedic. You might not know that Joshua came from a small town in Iowa and lived on a farm with sheep and goats while being active in 4-H and FFA.
Lydiana Morrison
Lydiana loved hearing stories from her friend who was an EMT, and her friend suggested she try EMT school. EMT school quickly captured her attention. She has now been in EMS for four years and is already a paramedic. She loves the adrenaline rushes and working with coworkers who feel like family along with the flexible schedule that allows her to spend time with her husband and son. Lydiana feels rewarded in EMS when she can make someone’s day just a little better, but she said the most challenging thing is death notifications. Lydiana is eager to learn new things every day and would love to get her critical care paramedic license and possibly tactical medic in the future. Her original dream was to work in law enforcement or on the SWAT team, but EMS is keeping her busy for now. She said that someday she might get a chance to fulfill her law enforcement dream as well.
Chris Magill
Chris’ experience in the medical field goes back all the way to when he was three years old and helping his granny while she was at work as an RN. His whole family is also in the medical field and volunteered through Red Cross after Hurricane Katrina. That experience as a teenager really solidified his desire to go into EMS. He has been in EMS for 14 years now and is a paramedic. While EMS can be discouraging at times, Chris wanted to point out that the flexible schedule allows him valuable time with his family at home, and it also gives him one big family at work. He thinks that is pretty darn cool. He also really enjoys the opportunities he gets to train and lead his EMS family. On the flip side, mental health is a big challenge due to the stress of the job. He thinks that having a good work-life balance and support system is very important when facing these challenges.
Aaron Steenbergen
Aaron didn’t know what he wanted to do after high school when he was given an EMT book from his neighbor who had been a paramedic in the 1980s. He looked at the book and has been in EMS ever since. He has now been in EMS for 29 years and is a paramedic. As to why he has stayed in EMS, he said, “Although it sounds cliché, I really like helping people in their time of need. The open scheduling also allows a wide variety of things that I can do in my time off.” Aaron sees rewards and challenges with the job. He feels it is rewarding to see patients make a marked improvement due to the care he provided. He said he has had eight patients who were in cardiac arrest, live and walk out of the hospital. He feels he was blessed with the talents and skills he has to help people. As for the challenges, he sees people losing the ability to take care of themselves in the simplest challenges due to the seeming entitlement in our society, which puts an unbearable burden on the healthcare providers and systems everywhere. One memorable moment of his career was being assigned to the ambulance in President Clinton’s motorcade during Governor Carnahan’s funeral. Before EMS, Aaron was raised on a cattle farm and continues to raise cattle in his spare time with his wife, three children, and two grandchildren.
Something you might have noticed that all these individuals have in common is their passion for EMS and their enthusiasm for wanting to be able to help others in their time of need. Whether they have been in EMS for four years or 32 years, each of these individuals is dedicated to their service and their community while constantly looking for ways to provide better patient care.
Congratulations MCAD on your 50th anniversary. We can’t wait to watch as you continue to advance your service and equip your personnel with the resources and training they need to provide high quality patient care for many more years to come.