Stephanie Schendel
The Chronicle
CHEHALIS, Wash. — A Chehalis woman who has volunteered as an emergency medical technician for the Lewis County Fire District 6 for more than two decades was selected as Washington State Volunteer EMS Responder of the Year earlier this month by the Washington State Firefighters Association.
Julie Johnston, a captain with Fire District 6, said she enjoys volunteering with the fire district because the sense of helping the community is rewarding. That feeling, coupled with the friends she has involved with the local district, is why she has continued to dedicate her time even after nearly 23 years.
“I would definitely recommend being a volunteer firefighter or EMS provider,” she said.
Johnston is responsible for the district’s basic life support training, said Fire District 6 Chief Tim Kinder, who nominated Johnston due to her “tireless efforts” working and teaching as an EMT.
“Julie is very passionate about EMS especially in the education department,” Kinder said.
Johnston responds to fires as well as medical calls from the station or her home, where she carries a pager.
While Johnston said she did not know how many hours a month she spends volunteering, she said it seems like she spends most of her time, when she’s not at work, at the department.
Johnston has been a volunteer EMT almost as long she has been working as a surgical assistant. She works for the office of Dr. Timothy Newman and Dr. Richey Newhouse, oral surgeons in Longview.
Johnston, who lived in the Chehalis area her whole life, also has a beef cattle farm.
Locally, statewide and even nationwide, volunteerism is down. Many organizations, including rural fire departments, need volunteers.
“We have limited paid personnel and the rest are all volunteers,” Kinder, the district’s fire chief, said. “We depend heavily on our volunteers.”
In 2013, Fire District 6 personnel responded to nearly 800 calls for service, Kinder said. About 71 percent were medical calls.
Johnston said since she started working with Fire District 6, she has seen a drop in the number of volunteers. Johnston guesses that a lot of it has to do with the economy and people not having enough time.
“I’d love anything we could do to get volunteerism back,” she said.
The district has also been working in the Adna School District in hopes of getting more young people involved in the agency. Last year, two high school seniors did their senior projects based of off firefighting and emergency medical services, she said.
“As a young person, you learn a lot of responsibility,” she said. “Basically, you learn concern for your community.”
Johnston was awarded Washington State Volunteer EMS Responder of the Year on June 6 by the Washington State Firefighters Association during its annual conference in Wenatchee.
There will also be a formal presentation of the award on June 24 at 6:20 p.m. at the main station on 2123 Jackson Highway. The public is invited to attend.
———
©2014 The Chronicle (Centralia, Wash.)