Howdy y’all! It’s been another busy week here at Yellowstone National Park…a good bit of work, a little bit of training, and some fun taking the 4Runner out on the trails.
I spent a good part of the week getting oriented to the core work at Mammoth Clinic. The clinic is located at the headquarters of YNP known as Mammoth Hot Springs, so there are many activities that take place in the vicinity much akin to any county-seat. There is a section of Mammoth that is dedicated to operating and governing the park. Included in this is a jail, a magistrate (the only full-time one in the National Park Service), housing for seasonal employees and those responsible for leading the various park functions, a post-office, a warehouse and distribution center, in addition to all the visitor venues. It is a small town with all the usual issues including medical needs. Mammoth Clinic is the only YNP clinic that operates year-round as a primary care / urgent care for the area including residents of Gardiner, MT. The nearest healthcare outside the park is located 55-ish miles north in Livingston, MT where a full-service community hospital exists. The clinics at Lake Village and Old Faithful operate seasonally as urgent care centers with some occupational and primary care services. Since Mammoth Clinic is my home base, I got to spend quite a bit of time learning the primary and occupational health services including how to take x-rays. I am now quite proficient at completing the DOT physical screening for commercial drivers, in addition to routine annual exams. We saw a few walk-in cases for slips / trips / falls / sniffles / etc. that come with rural town living. Altitude sickness is real, and we see it often. The staff are great to work with and for the most part our patients are all grateful for having quick access to care without having to travel hours outside the park.
Friday of the past week I started my NPS EMS Orientation at the Old Faithful EMS Station. There were 8 of us in the training and most of them are also law enforcement park rangers. The YNP Park Rangers operate an all-hazards response organization including law enforcement, firefighting, EMS and search and rescue. Not all rangers do all these, but all are participants in either a primary or supporting role. YNP Park Rangers carry EMS gear according to their provider level (BLS or ALS) and respond directly to any medical calls. Four ALS ambulances are staffed each day and go on-call at night. Response times of 45 minutes are not unusual due to the expansiveness of the park (2.2 million acres) and the road network. Travel is constrained by weather, wild-life on roadways (bison jams are frequent), and visitor traffic. Radio communications are also challenging due to terrain, so there are many operational complexities that exist while delivering high-quality EMS care in the most remote area in the lower 48-states. The complexity of this system is what I am learning, while sharing my clinical experience with the others. I should be cleared to begin providing care this coming week, as my security clearance is processed and IT systems access is granted.
On Saturday I went exploring. The town of Gardiner is perfectly situated between Yellowstone and the Gallatin National Forest. Many off-road trails and forest roads exist to explore. The day was sunny with mid-60’s in the valley and beautiful sky. Wind was kicking strong with gusts 20-30 MPH. I spent about 4 hours adventuring in and around the mountains on both sides of the Yellowstone River. Many of the forest service roads are not yet fully open due to the snow-pack. Expected opening is on or about June 1. Many opportunities for adventures in the surrounding wilderness for dispersed camping, hiking, mountain biking and off-roading.
The week ahead will be more time orienting in the clinic and EMS advanced airway training with the medical directors for sign-off. A four-day Memorial Day weekend is coming up…which is the official kick-off of the YNP busy season…he we go folks…full speed ahead to YNP 2024!
