By Mara H. Gottfried
Pioneer Press
MINNEAPOLIS 鈥� When Russ Myers became a chaplain working with EMTs and paramedics in the Twin Cities, he decided to take a college course on emergency medical care.
He never aspired to do their work 鈥� 鈥淚 was aware of my own anxiety about sticking needles in people鈥檚 arms,鈥� the pastor said. But he wanted to understand their work, so he could look after the well-being of crews as they cared for others.
鈥淎s I started, I think I probably knew as much about EMS as the general public, which is to say, not very much,鈥� Myers said recently. 鈥淚 thought it was all lights and sirens, a lot of trauma, a lot of drama. I came to realize that it鈥檚 all those things, but that鈥檚 really a small part of it.鈥�
Perhaps 25-30% of EMTs and paramedics鈥� responses are high intensity, but even routine calls can be stressful, and it all takes its toll over time, Myers said.
Myers, a pioneering chaplain for emergency medical services, retired Friday after 31 years with Allina Health. He was previously a chaplain at United Hospital in St. Paul and was the first chaplain for Allina Health Emergency Medical Services.
He focused on employee wellness, riding in ambulances with crews so he could be a listening ear for them. Myers is a board-certified chaplain and their code of ethics says they aren鈥檛 to proselytize, which he said allowed him to help people from all religious backgrounds and people for whom faith isn鈥檛 part of their lives.
In a field that previously expected toughness from its workers 鈥� paramedics used to hear sayings along the lines of 鈥淪uck it up, buttercup鈥� 鈥� Myers has been 鈥減ioneering a trail in this new field of public safety chaplaincy that鈥檚 taking care of first responders,鈥� said the Rev. Gwen Powell, an Allina Health EMS chaplain who Myers mentored.
At a going-away gathering, Allina Health EMS chaplain Nikki Holm told Myers: 鈥淔or nearly 18 years, you have worked to care for the caregivers.鈥� Holm and Powell are carrying on Myers鈥� work at Allina EMS and expanding it.
A new kind of chaplain
Myers鈥� work was unusual in two ways. While many chaplains in public safety agencies are volunteers, he is clinically trained as a professional chaplain. And it鈥檚 uncommon to have chaplains who are focused on EMTs and paramedics.
When another ambulance company asked Myers about his work, they were interested until they found out that Allina EMS paid him, saying, 鈥溾�榃e don鈥檛 have a budget for that,鈥欌�� Myers said. 鈥淔or me, that鈥檚 kind of the point: I don鈥檛 see it as an expense, I see it as an investment鈥� in employee wellbeing.
The work of hospital chaplains is well-established, but Myers helped create Allina Health EMS鈥檚 employee wellness program from the ground up.
鈥淲hat began as a 鈥榣et鈥檚-try-this-and-see what-happens鈥� one day a week EMS chaplaincy job has grown over the past 18 years into its own career field,鈥� Myers said.
Myers鈥� approach is to 鈥渓isten and acknowledge,鈥� said Jeff Czyson, Allina Health EMS director of workforce. 鈥淲hen somebody asks for help or advice, rather than just give it directly, he kind of helps them unlock it.鈥�
Myers, who has written for trade publications and journals, penned a book published in 2021 鈥� 鈥淏ecause We Care鈥� is a handbook for chaplaincy in EMS.
On board the ambulances
The Allina Health EMS primary service area covers more than 2,700 square miles in the Twin Cities metro area, along with greater Minnesota and Western Wisconsin. They have ambulances based in Savage, from which their service area includes Bloomington and the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and in Mounds View for suburbs in Ramsey and Anoka counties. Dispatchers work in downtown St. Paul.
Myers used to say at new employee orientation: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to be an anonymous voice on the phone from an 800 number from five states away. If something happens, I want you to know who I am.鈥�
The way for that to happen, he said, was 鈥渢o show up, a lot.鈥� Myers spent most of his work at various Allina Health EMS locations, riding along with ambulance crews, and sitting with dispatchers to listen to their calls. He鈥檇 arrive at Savage for a 4:30 a.m. shift or at Hutchinson at 5 p.m. on a Saturday, joining crews on ambulances both times.
鈥淚t brought a smile to my face to see the jaws drop,鈥� Myers recounted. 鈥溾�榃hat brings you here?鈥� they asked. I tried to keep a straight face as I said 鈥業 was at home in St. Paul and I kept thinking, I wonder how things are in Hutchinson today? So here I am.鈥� 鈥� I knew that this is a 24-hour-a-day business, and if I wanted to connect with people, I had to work when they did. It wouldn鈥檛 be enough to give myself a schedule of only working Monday through Friday, 9-5.鈥�
He remembered a time when he rode with a paramedic and told her he knew she鈥檇 recently been on a call that was potentially distressing.
鈥淪he acknowledged that, and then changed the subject and started asking about me,鈥� Myers wrote. 鈥淚t was light and conversational but focused: How long had I been doing this job (at that point, 12 years), did I ride with crews very often (yes), when was the last time I did a ride along (last week), and what were some of my hardest calls (I referred to a recent suicide call, a cardiac arrest, and a situation where the family was very upset). As her questions proceeded, I realized that she was assessing my credibility and ability to provide her with meaningful support.鈥�
鈥淎pparently, I passed the test,鈥� he continued. 鈥淎fter a pause, she told me about the call she had been on the previous week. It went OK as far as trauma calls go, but it was gut-wrenching. I was glad we had more than a half-hour drive to the hospital because that gave her more time to talk.鈥�
Their conversation ended at the hospital because the paramedic and her partner needed to get a patient to the emergency department.
鈥淩iding in the ambulance, listening to her story, I had the privilege of giving her a safe place to process the activities that occur in the normal course of a job that sometimes carries a significant amount of emotional weight,鈥� he said. 鈥淏earing witness consists of giving and receiving empathy and support, lightening the emotional load, and may be verbal or unspoken, a ministry of presence.鈥�
From Ohio to St. Paul
Myers, who is 68, grew up in Massillon, Ohio, an hour south of Cleveland. His family was active in their Lutheran church. He graduated with a sociology degree from The Ohio State University, interned for half a year at an inner-city Los Angeles church, and moved to Minnesota to study at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. He earned his master鈥檚 of divinity in 1985.
He met Mary Sueltz there and they married. They went on to work as co-pastors at two rural churches in Adams County, Wis., for five years.
When they moved back to St. Paul, as Myers worked on his doctorate in ministry at Luther Seminary, it included two days a week of clinical work at St. John鈥檚 Hospital in Maplewood, and that鈥檚 where he discovered chaplaincy. After a year of clinical work in chaplaincy at Hennepin County Medical Center, Myers was hired as a United Hospital chaplain in 1993.
In 2006, Myers spoke at a meeting of Allina Health executives, telling them about his United Hospital chaplaincy and offering to talk to them about developing chaplaincy programs at regional hospitals or specialty operations. Brian LaCroix, then president of Allina Health EMS, said employee wellness had long been on his mind and he asked Myers to start a program.
LaCroix was trained as a paramedic in the 1980s and said the attitude in the field then toward people doing the work was, 鈥淚f the bone isn鈥檛 showing, it doesn鈥檛 hurt.鈥�
鈥淏ut that鈥檚 just not true,鈥� LaCroix said. 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 just the bad call that keeps people up at night. Most of this is cumulative stuff.鈥�
Understanding emergency medicine
Myers started working one day a week as a chaplain at Allina Health EMS in 2007. LaCroix increased his hours the next year, which is when Myers audited an EMT class at Inver Hills Community College.
鈥淚 really had a better idea of what they are doing and a lot of appreciation,鈥� Myers said. 鈥淪ome of these are 19-, 20-year-olds that are going out on the street, taking 911 calls, on the front lines and saving people鈥檚 lives.鈥� His two daughters were around the same age then.
Myers latched onto what he learned about the central nervous system during his EMT class.
When he talked to paramedics and EMTs, 鈥淚 could tie it into, 鈥楾his is what happens to us physically when we have a traumatic experience 鈥� our blood pressure goes up, our heart rate picks up, our blood gets diverted away from our digestive system, our bloodstream is flooded with all those stress hormones,鈥欌�� Myers said.
He鈥檇 say, 鈥淟ook, I鈥檓 not telling you anything you don鈥檛 already know, but I want you to look at it from this point of view,鈥� emphasizing the importance of looking after their own health when they face traumatic medical calls.
Myers continued working as a chaplain at United until 2015 when his work in the EMS division increased to 32 hours a week.
Most difficult calls involve kids
Beyond adding the chaplain role, Allina Health EMS also established a peer support team, brought in therapy dogs, and designated employee assistance program workers for EMS.
Myers initiated a study in 2012 of how Allina Health EMS workers were coping with their jobs. In their research, they asked crews, 鈥淲hat are the worst types of calls you go on?鈥� and seven of the worst eight involved children.
With that knowledge, instead of trying to find out by word of mouth about such situations, Allina Health EMS built an alert into their dispatch system. Any time crews are dispatched to a pediatric call involving an emergency transport, the chaplains and other support staff are notified.
Myers could then contact the crew who鈥檇 been on such a call and tell them: 鈥淲hat we know is that type of call is the hardest we go on. We鈥檙e here if you need any additional support.鈥� He鈥檇 get a range of responses 鈥� from 鈥淚 have what I need鈥� to 鈥淚鈥檓 not doing very well. Can we meet?鈥�
鈥榃hy鈥� questions
There are overlaps between chaplaincy and counseling, but also differences. During new employee orientations, Myers would emphasize the importance of wellness 鈥� diet, exercise, relationships 鈥� and tending to their own spirituality. He鈥檇 say: 鈥淚鈥檓 not going to tell you what that needs to look like. It could be organized religion. It could be art, music, nature, whatever that is for you.鈥�
Sometimes people brought up spirituality after traumatic calls, especially with children.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the 鈥榃hy鈥� questions: Why did this happen? How could this happen?鈥� Myers said. 鈥淪ome people take comfort in saying, 鈥楪od doesn鈥檛 give you more than you handle,鈥� but I don鈥檛 find it to be all that helpful. If someone says, 鈥楨verything happens for a reason,鈥� well, what was the reason? That鈥檚 the place where I could enter the conversation and say, 鈥楾hat is the struggle鈥� and 鈥楬ow do you process that?鈥欌��
For Myers鈥� own beliefs, he said he鈥檚 moved toward 鈥渢he contemplative mysticism end鈥� of Christianity. 鈥淚鈥檓 comfortable with the questions that don鈥檛 have answers,鈥� he said.
鈥淎fter a really bad week, sometimes I just need to sit there and cry,鈥� he said. Just as he took care of the caretakers, Myers also knew he needed to look after himself.
Though he鈥檚 retired now, Myers will stay active. He鈥檚 visitation pastor at Pilgrim, through which he鈥檒l keep up his visits to seniors and nursing homes.
He loves spending time with his 12-year-old grandson and volunteering at his school; going with his wife to their Wisconsin cabin, chopping wood for the fire; and cooking, especially wild rice soup.
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