MONTPELIER — Imagine your most frightening medical emergency. It could be a family member suffering from a heart attack, a fall, an injury involving an automobile accident, a gunshot wound, an injury caused by an animal or a million other scenarios. Most likely, your first reaction would be to seek emergency assistance by calling 911, and you would expect prompt, capable assistance from Bear Lake County’s Emergency Medical Service.

There are three levels of Emergency Medical Service personnel in Bear Lake County. Each level requires significant training and certification by the Idaho EMS program. When you call 911 for emergency services, you are receiving the same level of medical expertise required anywhere in Idaho.

— Emergency medical responder is an out-of-hospital practitioner whose primary focus is to initiate immediate lifesaving care to patients while ensuring patient access to the EMS. EMRs are frequently the first responders to an emergency.

— Emergency medical technician is a health professional whose primary focus is to respond to, assess and triage emergent, urgent and nonurgent requests for medical care, apply basic knowledge and skills necessary to provide patient care and medical transportation to/from an emergency health care facility.

— Advanced emergency medical technician is a health professional whose primary focus is to respond to, assess and triage nonurgent, urgent and emergent requests for medical care, apply basic and focused advanced knowledge and skills necessary to provide patient care and/or medical transportation and facilitate access to a higher level of care when the needs of the patient exceed the capability level of the AEMT.

All of these unsung heroes are volunteers. They pay out of pocket for their certification training, transportation and volunteer their time to save lives and serve the community. If you are interested in becoming an EMR, watch for upcoming local classes.

In order to defray some of the expenses these volunteers pay, the Bear Lake Memorial Hospital Auxiliary is sponsoring a Turkey Shoot and Bake Sale on Nov. 22 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the EMS building, Highway 30 at Cemetery Road. Food will be available. There will be a cost to participate, but no charge for observation. Cash donations will also be appreciated. Food will be available. All proceeds will go to the Bear Lake County Emergency Response Services. Please take this opportunity to support essential, local EMS personnel and possibly win a Thanksgiving turkey.