Stopping the bleed,
F ire Fire helping those in need
Saluting area fire departments and the people who dedicate themselves to keeping our communities safe!
program
Peine assists through roles as paramedic, firefighter, instructor
BY HAILEY HOKANSON | STAFF WRITER
Kevin Peine has always loved helping people; and for the past eight years, he has assisted those around the St. Cloud area through a variety of jobs and programs.
Peine has been employed with Mayo Clinic Ambulance since January 2016, after attending college for an associate degree in paramedic medicine.
But his service to others did not start there.
“I was in the Navy, and when I got out, I was working a factory job — knowing I didn’t want to be doing that,” Peine said. “My neighbor, at the time, was a paramedic with Mayo and told me about being an EMT and the program. I decided to get out of building cabinet doors for a living and went to school to become a paramedic about a year after that.”
When he joined the U.S. Navy, Peine originally wanted to be a corpsman, or the Navy’s version of a medic.
“I got talked out of it by the detailer down in the cities because of the job’s poor advancement rating, but I still just wanted to help people,” Peine said.
Along with working as a paramedic, Peine is a member of the Rice Fire Department — a role he has had since Au-
A SUPPLEMENT TO THE
major points such as recognizing lifethreatening hemorrhaging and treating it with direct pressure, how to wound pack, how to use gauze, and how to apply tourniquets.
gust 2017. The department provides fire and rescue service to the city and Watab and Langola townships.
One of Peine’s contributions is his work with Stop the Bleed.
According to its website, Stop the Bleed is a program initiated by the National Security Council Staff of the White House and administered by the American College of Surgeons. The program teaches people to stop life-threatening bleeding in emergency situations.
“Shortly after the Sandy Hook shooting, a trauma surgeon in (Connecticut) started working on the idea,” Peine said. “He knew some of the kids that were killed that day and knew some of them could’ve been saved by immediate shock and bleeding control.”
After that, the surgeon — Lenworth M. Jacobs — conversed with national experts to figure out a response plan. What is now known as the “CPR of bleeding,” the program is meant to teach civilians without formal medical training how to potentially save lives.
PHOTO BY HANS LAMMEMAN
Kevin Peine holds gauze Sept. 4 at the Rice Fire Department in Rice. The Stop the Bleed
stresses
Rice
Peine from front
Peine first took action with the program while at an EMS conference in Minneapolis.
“One of the seminars there was Stop the Bleed, and they were teaching people how to be instructors. So, I did the program back in March 2020,” he said. “I taught my first class to the health services staff in the Sauk Rapids-Rice School District shortly after the Uvalde shooting.”
The program stresses major points such as recognizing life-threatening hemorrhaging and treating it with direct pressure, how to wound pack, how to use gauze and how to apply tourniquets — both improvised and commercially available.
Peine page 8F
PHOTO BY HANS LAMMEMAN
Kevin Peine displays his helmet Sept. 4 at the Rice Fire Department in Rice. Peine has been with the RFD since August 2017.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
The Sauk Rapids Fire Department members are Capt. Steve Ellson (front, from left), Capt. Dalton Landwehr, Rick Van Den Arend, Brent Bukowski, Keagan Gunderson, Jason Adamski, Deelia Guite, Alan Olson, Tanner Toenjes, 1st Assistant Chief Brad Peterson and Justin Hammerel; (back, from left) 2nd Assistant Chief Jeff Jahnke, Wyatt Hanson, Joel Henkemeyer, Cody Drussell, Kevin Roesner, Tyler Gedicke, Brian Kitzberger, Jared Powell, Scott Vadnais, Mike Griffin, Dale Abraham, Chief Jason Fleming and Capt. Greg Bomstad. Not pictured are Kaden Cahill, Montana Hanson, Brian Otremba, Bryce Sequin and Cory Zimpel.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
The Foley Fire Department members are Dakota McIver (front, from left), Andy Shaw, Logan Lunde, Travis Sweno, Greg Poganski, Jacob Bowland and David Moore; (back, from left) Adam Foss, Mike McMillin, Kraig Rudolph, Lt. Travis Janson,
Foreman, Capt. Chris Harren, Chief Mark Pappenfus, Jason Studanski, Brian Moshier and Jerry Linn.
pictured are Jerad Fleck, Jay Howard and Tyler Palm.
Foley Fire Department
The Foley Fire Department responded to 314 calls for service in 2023, providing fire and rescue services to a 276-square-mile radius, including the cities of Foley and Gilman and Benton County townships of St. George, Glendorado, Mayhew Lake, Gilmanton, Maywood, Alberta and Granite Ledge as well as Morrison County townships of Morrill and Lakin.
