Prehospital Profiles: City of Sturgis Ambulance

Sturgis Ambulance handles the EMS response to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally each August, and does it on top of their regular call volume without bringing in additional staff.

During Rally Week the city’s population of approximately 6,700 residents swells with the addition of about 500,000 visitors and exhibitors—nearly twice the population of the entire state of South Dakota, according to city statistics.

Sturgis Ambulance Director Shawn Fischer credits her staff and the relationships that have been built with fire, police and hospital personnel.

“I couldn’t ask for a better staff,” she says. “If I put a call out, everybody’s here, and the fire department is extraordinary,” she says.  She notes that it hasn’t always been this way. “We’ve really become closer-knit,” she says.

Name of department: City of Sturgis Ambulance (“Sturgis Ambulance”)

Type of department: paid

Number of employees: 30

Service area: about 580 square miles

Call volume: 1600-1800 per year

Number of vehicles: six ambulances

Annual operating budget: 1 million

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

The first Rally was called the Black Hills Motor Classic and was held August 12-14, 1938. According to the city website, the timing was selected to avoid interfering with other regional events, which were extremely important for social and economic reasons in the post depression Mid-west. The event is now one of the largest bike rallies in the U.S. and includes concerts, races, bike shows, exhibits, organized rides and a full schedule of entertainment. 

Annual Rally Preparation

The local agencies have preplans and annual training leading up to the rally that includes scenarios such as what to do if there’s a gang fight, Fischer says.  She arranges the EMS training and the agencies are coordinated by the county emergency manager. Also, Fischer says the agencies are now doing things year-round that build relationships; for example, there are police taking EMS classes and RNs training to run with the ambulance. The agencies also come together for annual EMS Week celebrations. “For the last four years we have made that a huge week for us and included everybody together,” Fischer says, which shows the community a unified front.

EMS also now works closely with the area campgrounds that have paramedics on scene and has them following the same protocols, “So we arrive on scene and they have things done as we would,” Fischer says. In addition, EMS remains in close contact with the city’s rally department to keep apprised of all events and coverage needs.

Sturgis Ambulance looks to tweak and improve their event coverage every year, Fischer says. For example, this year they stationed an extra ambulance toward the east where it wouldn’t have to travel through the town, to improve response time and crew safety.

Rally Response Experience

The experience can be vastly different from year to year, Fischer says. “Last year it was all trauma patients. This year it was all medical; all cardiac and respiratory. It seems like it varies every year.”

Typical calls can include drugs, intoxication, assaults and a high volume of motorcycle wrecks.

Fischer says many of the most memorable calls occur when rally participants attempt to set world records—for example, a man going through a tunnel of fire, and a woman trying to hold back two motorcycles tied to her arms.

During the rally they run 3-5 crews of 3 each, which include their paramedic students from Western Dakota VoTech doing ride time.

One of the biggest challenges is getting through the crowds. “Getting around is just about impossible sometimes,” Fischer says. They mitigate this difficulty by stationing crews strategically, planning emergency routes and utilizing police and fire to lead and protect. Crews usually end up walking onto the main street that is closed to all but motorcycle traffic.

Sturgis Fire runs with them on all their calls, Fischer says, and if they do get overwhelmed they can call on other area EMS services. However, they haven’t done that yet, and those services have heavy loads of their own to cover because the rally spills out so much to those outlying areas.

Recent Changes and Improvements

A new medical director has helped update protocols and brought the EMS service up to speed for better integration with the local emergency department, Fischer says. EMS is also now involved in monthly trauma meetings at the hospital.

Call volume increased 15% last year and at the current time is up 20% this year, Fischer reports. “Our crew has all stepped up to the challenge with the increased calls,” she says.

The service has also just started to pay for employee training to help them further their education, and Fischer says the service has recently gone from BLS to all units being ALS. “That’s something we’re very proud of,” she says.

Sturgis Ambulance also applied for and received the EMS Service of Year for South Dakota, Fischer reports.