The U.P. EMS Conference focuses on first responders in rural towns
MARQUETTE -- The 31st annual Upper Peninsula EMS Conference is taking place at Northern Michigan University. Around 500 first responders from all over the state are in the U.P. to learn the latest when it comes to saving lives.
It's specifically designed for those who volunteer in rural towns throughout the state of Michigan.
"Many times, they are the only difference between life or death for someone in some small town somewhere in the Upper Peninsula. We need them to be well-trained," said Upper Peninsula EMS Director Bob Struck.
At this year's U.P. EMS conference, first responders are getting their training refreshed, learning new skills, and exchanging information with others from around the state. And some are able to use equipment that first responders in small towns may not have access to, such as mannequins and devices.
"The differences are quite extreme between rural and EMS emergency care. This conference gives those rural folks the opportunity to share those special techniques and to work together so that they can keep helping people in their own local, rural community," Struck added.
For Farrell Thomas, a first responder from downstate, it's his third time coming to the conference, and he brought his team to work on building confidence.
"It's training that you cannot get otherwise, and it does come in handy because things do happen. And when you've got confidence when a trucker falls off his truck, or somebody's down, and you got confidence in approaching him," said Thomas.
Each team of first responders made their way to several stations throughout the conference.
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