CLARION CO., Pa. (EYT) — A Knox woman who is following a family tradition by helping others was honored with the Keystone Emergency Management Association (KEMA) Municipal Coordinator Award last week.
(Pictured: Kristen Yeager with William Logue, Clarion County EMA Operations and Training Officer)
Kristen Yeager, who lives in the Knox area, was presented the award at the Clarion County Commissioners’ meeting last Tuesday.
As a lifelong Clarion County resident, Yeager currently works full-time as a supervisor at the Clarion County 9-1-1 Center and also works with Knox Area Ambulance Service and Knox Volunteer Fire Company and volunteers as LEMC for Salem and Elk Township, as well as Knox Borough as the Local Emergency Management Coordinator (LEMC).
According to Yeager, who grew up in West Freedom and graduated from Allegheny-Clarion Valley High School in 2004, helping people is something of a family tradition that she learned from a very young age.
“I guess helping people has always been in my blood. My mom has been a nurse all my life and I just have followed in her footsteps,” she said.
After graduating from high school, she attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in music education. However, after taking an EMT course in 2005, she realized that helping people was what she really wanted to do and took nursing courses.
Before continuing her nursing degree, Yeager began working as an EMT with Perry Township Ambulance where she stayed until they closed down; although, she continued to work with Perry Township Volunteer Fire Department for some time.
She eventually decided to go back and pursue her nursing degree at Clarion University, but once again, life got in the way. Yeager was living with her younger sister at the time, and when her sister began to have serious health issues, she was forced to choose either work or school. Unable to pursue both, Yeager gave up her own education to work full-time.
“I told her to go to school, and I would work. Then, my loans came out of deferment, so I just kept working.”
In April of 2010, she began working at the Clarion County 9-1-1 Center as a dispatcher and was then promoted to a supervisor a few years later.
She kept up her EMT certification after Perry Township Ambulance stopped their services and joined with Knox Area Ambulance Service about five years ago, while also volunteering with Knox Volunteer Fire Company.
Then in 2016, she was approached about volunteering as the Local Emergency Management Coordinator (LEMC) for Salem Township and took on the position, later taking up the same position for Elk Township and Knox Borough, as well.
According to Yeager, there are a lot of things she loves about both her regular job and her volunteer work.
“Helping people. Knowing I’ve made a difference. Meeting different people. I’ve made some amazing friends on this journey. Friends that have become family.”
“I love the LEMC position with all the planning and training. I love the EMS and Fire positions for being hands on. Dispatch is just a love of its own.”
Each of the positions she fills also comes with challenges — particularly the hands-on positions — where doubts can plague first-responders after an incident.
“I always have doubts. Could I have done something different? If we would have got there sooner would it have made a difference?”
Between her volunteer positions and her work in the 9-1-1 Center, she deals with all the different phases of emergency response in the area — from receiving calls from people as situations arise to being a part of the response team as an EMT through her LEMC position, which deals more with the aftermath of emergencies.
“With the LEMC position, I don’t get called until after the disaster has struck. I am clean up, basically. I assess the damage and help the township out wherever they need.”
Yeager says she takes whatever develops in her positions and gives everything she can.
She has her own way of dealing with the stress of working in emergency management.
“My motto is being a duck: stay calm on the surface and paddle like crazy underneath.”
While she understands that her line of work isn’t for everyone, Yeager does want people to know that there are always positions available for those who would like to help.
“I highly recommend anyone wanting to help to reach out and join either as a LEMC or your local fire department. Help is always needed.”
