Brownie members with Girl Scout Troop 2857 pose for a photograph with Traer Ambulance Director Shaun Kennedy, center, on October 2 after presenting him with a donation check worth $100. From left to right, Jocelyn Dostal, Raelynn Cooper, Madi Howard, Keeley Docekal, Mylah Heller, Scarlett Ramirez, and Lenyx Vance. The troop is led by Allison Blocker and Sarah Dostal, not pictured. PHOTO BY SOREN M. PETERSON

TRAER – Earlier this month, while visiting with Shaun Kennedy at Traer Ambulance as part of earning their first aid badges, brownie members with Girl Scout Troop 2857 were curious to know what all the rural ambulance director had experienced in his 26 years working in the emergency services field.

“I’ve seen pretty much everything,” Kennedy told the group of seven and eight-year-olds as they gathered around him, cramped inside the back of an ambulance while touring the downtown Traer station.

Despite chomping away on lollipops provided by Kennedy, the inquisitive group of seven girls had no trouble firing a barrage of questions at their knowledgeable host during their roughly hour long visit to the station on the afternoon of October 2.

“The girls are working on earning their first aid badge,” troop co-leader Allison Blocker told the Telegraph following the field trip. “We visited the ambulance station for some first-hand knowledge about emergency situations and what kind of help the ambulance can provide.”

In addition to telling the girls about how he got started in the field – first, he was a volunteer, he said, before moving on to paramedic in Marshalltown, and now Traer’s director – Kennedy demonstrated many of his job responsibilities from simple tasks like how to operate the emergency lights on the ambulance, to the more complicated work of deploying a LUCAS device, a revolutionary instrument that provides mechanical chest compression to cardiac arrest patients.

Members of Girl Scout Troop 2857 make their way inside an ambulance located in the Traer Ambulance bay on Oct. 2 as part of a field trip to the downtown station. PHOTO BY SOREN M. PETERSON

Kennedy also discussed what might happen if a child needed an ambulance, assuring the wide-eyed youngsters that one of their parents or caregivers would be allowed to ride along in the ambulance, but that a second parent would need to travel separately.

“Why?” they wondered.

“So they can take you home after the hospital,” Kennedy said.

Once back inside the office, the group had even more questions including why there was a shower in the building.

Kennedy explained that sometimes when he comes back from a call his clothes are very dirty, so he’ll need to take a shower.

While seated inside the back of an ambulance, Traer Ambulance director Shaun Kennedy, right, helps members of Girl Scout Troop 2857 learn what happens during an emergency situation as part of the group’s tour of his station. PHOTO BY SOREN M. PETERSON

Back when he was working for the Marshalltown ambulance, Kennedy explained, he had a uniform plus two backup uniforms, and at least once all three ended up in the washer on the same day.

These days, working in Traer, he said that’s not likely to happen before adding that he does still generally go on at least one call per day.

As the tour wound down, the troop had a surprise for Kennedy – a donation check worth $100 that was made possible through the group’s annual cookie sales.

“Ahead of our visit we talked about all the help [the ambulance] provides the community and why it is so important to have them available during an emergency,” Blocker explained to the Telegraph. “We discussed how donations from the community can help them buy equipment that they need to better help people.”

When asked if the girls enjoyed their visit, Blocker said they loved it.

Traer Ambulance director Shaun Kennedy, center, demonstrates how to use the LUCAS device to brownies with Girl Scout Troop 2857 while in the back of an ambulance on Oct. 2. PHOTO BY SOREN M. PETERSON

“Shaun did a wonderful job of answering the girls’ questions – and there were a lot of them! The girls especially seemed to enjoy some of the real-life examples he demonstrated for them.”

While Traer Ambulance continues to provide invaluable and essential emergency services to the greater Traer community – a community that is part of a county with no hospitals – the service is facing an ongoing shortage of both volunteers and staff. Those interested in volunteering or in becoming a paramedic are asked to reach out to Kennedy at 319-478-2084, or TraerEMS@traer.net.

Members of Girl Scout Troop 2857 observe with interest as Traer Ambulance director Shaun Kennedy, right, demonstrates how to intubate someone who is not breathing. PHOTO BY SOREN M. PETERSON