Kirk’s EMS began with the Kuykendall family’s wrecker service.
They recognized a need for ambulance services in the community,
which led to the founding of Kirk’s EMS in 1972 by H.P. (Kirk) and
Betty Kuykendall with a single station in southwestern Oklahoma.
The first ambulances were two 1972 Oldsmobile limousines
purchased for $8,000. Replacing them with a modern equivalent
would cost roughly $350,000, a measure of how much emergency
medicine has changed. Over more than fifty years, KIRKS has
grown to five stations with 109 employees. Its mission has stayed
constant: providing the community with quick, courteous, and
compassionate care.
KIRKS is a family business at heart whose history is a story of continuity. Paul, the founders’ son, sits on the company’s board, carrying the family’s service into a second generation. Many employees have been there since the earliest days. The current director was on staff during the September 11th terrorist attacks, proving the longevity of the company’s values.
With nine ALS ambulances on call daily and stations in
Lawton,Walters, Elgin, Apache and Carnegie, KIRKS covers 2,000 square miles of service area in Comanche, Cotton, portions of Caddo, portions of Kiowa and Washita Counties. Last New Year’s Eve, the service reached a milestone of 15,000 calls for the year. An EMS workers stated the reason people should choose KIRKS over other EMS services is for their compassion, dedication, and training of its employees, which they refer to as their grade “A” care.
KIRKS operates under Heartland Medical Direction, which holds the service to a higher standard than state and national requirements and allows crews to do substantially more in the field. The clearest example of this is blood. Last year KIRKS partnered with Our Blood Institute and began carrying blood on its ambulances. It is the only ground service in southwest Oklahoma to do so, with blood typically only carried by helicopters. So far, crews have given it in the field six times.
Simulation competitions, known as SIM games, are a staple
of EMS events. Teams of paramedics and EMTs work through timed, high-pressure scenarios. Actors or high-fidelity mannequins play the patients, and judges score triage, protocol adherence, communication, and hands-on treatment. The games are also a competitive way for responders to sharpen practical knowledge, learn from peers, and practice crisis management. KIRKS recently won a competition at a three day state wide event. Two KIRKS teams reached the finals, with one taking home the trophy as state champion.
Military service runs through KIRKS’s workforce, which includes many veterans and former combat medics. H.P. “Kirk”, the founder, served during the Korean Conflict and with the Oklahoma National Guard following that tour Amongst the others are a married couple who also work as flight paramedics with Airevac. KIRKS offers internships to medics coming off active duty to help them transition into civilian EMS, though they must first earn their EMS certification. The company also directs staff to military resources as needed, including the Warriors Rest Program, however, Heartland PEER Support is their primary mental health and peer support resource.
Many of KIRKS workforce come from law enforcement and fire service backgrounds. A number of them are pursuing further medical careers and include generations and decades of invested service professionals working together.
Historically, EMS has less mental health support than fire and police departments. KIRKS is working with the state of Oklahoma to change this. Recognizing the importance of caring for the caregivers, five staff members are trained as peer supporters with one of them holding a certification in Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD), a structured way of helping crews process difficult calls.
Nine staff members recently earned certification in community paramedicine which extends the service beyond emergency response. KIRK’s paramedics have received Oklahoma Paramedic of the Year and National Paramedic of the Year and one of KIRKS ambulances is set to appear on the big screen in an upcoming feature film.
The KIRKS culture includes a family first environment with an emphasis on supporting neighboring first responder agencies. They are proud to serve the SW Oklahoma communities and view growth as a responsibility, not simply to add territories or more ambulances.
From a pair of ambulances at one station, to blood on board and a
state championship team, KIRKS EMS has stayed true to its founders’ commitment: people who stay, train hard, and treat every call with care.The equipment, medicine and footprint have changed dramatically, yet the foundation of family, community and taking care of people, has remained the same. •story by Jill Stephenson, contributing writer
