REGIONAL-Drowning is the leading cause of injury-related death among children ages one to four. And for two area emergency service providers and their families, this is more than a statistic. Childhood family tragedies pushed both Rebekah Littler and Dena Suihkonen into training as emergency responders, but it also served as the impetus to try to make such tragedies less common for area families.
This week, ambulance and campground volunteers, coordinated by Littler and Suihkonen, finished installing five life preserver lending kiosks at public beaches in Babbitt, Tower-Soudan, and Ely. Each kiosk stocks life preservers in sizes from infant to large adult, and are available to use and return, free-of-charge, for anyone needing one. The project was an outgrowth of other safety education programs that Littler has been working on, and she recruited Suihkonen, as well as Dusty Moravitz from the Ely Ambulance Service, to help spearhead the project.
Suihkonen’s oldest brother, Brian Tekautz, drowned in Lake Vermilion when he was three years old.
“My mother had three kids under the age of three at the time,” she said. “They were staying at a resort and Brian said he was going to find his grandfather, and he wandered off.” He was later found in the lake, and back then, Suihkonen said, medical responders didn’t know there was a chance of a child surviving a drowning in cold water. The tragedy led her father to become an EMT and CPR instructor, skills that Suihkonen has also made her career, as ambulance director for the city of Tower. Several of Suihkonen’s daughters have also trained and worked as emergency responders, carrying on the family tradition.
Littler’s younger brother, Drew, drowned in Birch Lake, but was resuscitated after being transported by the Babbitt Ambulance to Ely-Bloomenson Hospital, and then life-flighted to Duluth. Littler and a friend were canoeing, with young Drew in the canoe with them, when their boat capsized. Drew is now grown, but he has life-impacting brain trauma from his time without oxygen. He is a graduate of Ely High School and Minnesota North-Vermilion.
“Drew is enjoying everything that comes his way,” said Littler. “He loves to learn.”
Littler originally found the idea for life preserver kiosks from a group called Safe Kids Worldwide, which she had worked with to solicit donations of bike helmets for area children. The idea wasn’t a current focus of that organization, but she worked to update their idea and tailor it for the local area, with help from the three area ambulance services, forming an ersatz group called BETAS, for Babbitt, Ely, Tower Ambulance Safety.
The first step was raising money and donations of materials, and they quickly found plenty of support for their project. The initial plan called for three kiosks, one for each community, and they secured donations of treated lumber from Pohaki Lumber and a commitment to purchase life jackets from Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital. But soon they realized that five kiosks were needed, and both of these major sponsors quickly agreed to increase their support.
“We got a lot of help from all over,” Littler said.
Ryan Lindsay, a teacher at Northeast Range, had his students help build two of the kiosks with help from Littler’s husband Matt, and Jay Foltz Contracting built the rest. Cash donations helped purchase the needed signage, materials and hardware, and cover other expenses.
Littler said one of the goals of the project was to connect kids to their communities.
“The kids who built the boxes hopefully will make sure the community takes care of them,” she said. “This is hands-on engagement.”
Public safety is a priority for all three of the ambulance departments involved.
“Even if we can help one person,” said Suihkonen, “it’s all worth it.”
The brightly-painted kiosks are sturdy, with a latching front door, and a shingled roof to keep them dry. Signs on the front and back of the kiosks show how to make sure the correct size of life jacket is used and correctly worn.
Julie Kranz and Randy Pratt, who manage Hoodoo Point Campground in Tower, were excited to have the kiosk installed on Tuesday. They said they often get requests to borrow life jackets, and would lend them out if possible, but this now means there will always be that extra layer of safety at the lake.
Littler said the first kiosk at the Birch Lake beach in Babbitt was installed last summer, and that all the life jackets were returned, something they had been a little concerned about.
Suihkonen would like to work on some other community safety projects, including bike helmet giveaways and doing more education on UTV safety.
Littler said outreach is also a passion of hers, and she hopes to work on similar projects in the future. She’s looking, in particular, for projects that show students what careers are available in EMS.
“We need to tie kids into their communities,” she said.
The kiosks, located at Hoodoo Point, McKinley Park, Birch Lake, and two public beaches in Ely, should all be installed by this weekend.
The project was funded with help from many area businesses, organizations, and individuals: Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital, Pohaki Lumber, Tower Firemen’s Relief Association, Winton Rod and Gun Club, Alder Place, Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Babbitt Golf Association, K & M Industrial, Dirty Dog Manufacturing, Jay Folz Contracting, Matt Littler, and Northeast Range High School shop students and Ryan Lindsay.
“When we can all work together, look at what we can get done,” said Suihkonen.