A new partnership on Lake Minnetonka is using speed and emergency medical skills when time is running short.

“This is our first year with water patrol, yeah,” notes Becky Kopka, a paramedic with Hennepin EMS. “We can start care for somebody in an emergency. We can start care on traumatic emergencies.”

“Whether somebody’s bleeding really bad and it’s uncontrolled, or someone is in cardiac arrest, seconds do count,” adds Senior Deputy Mathias Weinzierl with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office.

This year, for the first time, deputies with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office Water Patrol have paramedics like Kopka on board.

“Prior to this year, if water patrol responded and needed a paramedic, they would have to get that patient to shore, and meet an ambulance where we could begin care,” she explains.

The water patrol here covers a huge area.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says Lake Minnetonka is more than 14,000 acres in size. It can take the water patrol boats, running at 45 mph, 20 minutes to cross the lake.

“It just makes sense,” Ryan Mayfield, the assistant chief with Hennepin EMS. “We have to deal with these patients after they get off the lake anyway, so we might as well start the treatment earlier.”

The equipment on board includes a CPR machine that can do chest compressions, an EKG heart monitor, and naloxone in case of a drug overdose. There’s even an obstetrics kit in case of an emergency birth.

Weinzierl, who’s worked his nautical beat since 2016, says the new partnership is a vital division of labor.

“Not all of us have some medical background of any kind of specialized training,” he says. “Before this partnership, we would try to have to do both or pick which one we could do because we can’t provide medical care and drive a boat at the same time.”

Fourteen paramedics are taking part in the program. There are also nine lake access points where an ambulance can meet a boat to transport patients.

The program is set to run through the summer and perhaps beyond.

It’s teamwork saving seconds with the goal of saving lives.

“The potential for them to recover or to have a better chance of life certainly improves if we cut down on that time,” Kopka says.