STURGIS — With nearly three decades of service in emergency medical care, including experience in 30 states and Canada, Aden Schillig’s mission has never changed: help people — and help others do the same.

Now, he brings that mission to Sturgis.

A native of Dresden, Kan., Schillig has always felt the call to do more.

"Even as a flight paramedic, where you can do quite a lot of things, I just wanted to help people more," he said. “That’s what’s always driven me.”

That same drive is what led him to Sturgis, where he’s now stepping into a leadership role with the Sturgis Ambulance Service. For Schillig, the opportunity is about more than just oversight — it’s about mentorship and growth.

“I see this as a chance to take everything I’ve learned over the last 29 years and bring it here to mentor and lead our paramedics and EMTs,” he said. “They’re an amazing group of professionals. I’ve known many of them through my work with Black Hills Life Flight, and I’m excited to help them grow.”

Schillig’s professional journey has been anything but ordinary. In addition to ambulance work across the country, he’s managed occupational health clinics and provided paramedic services in some of the most rugged and remote environments — from tunnels and mines to oil refineries and offshore rigs. He’s helped build medical response teams for large-scale construction projects and even contributed to operations at the Homestake Mine near Lead.

His experience has given him a broad view of what high-functioning EMS systems can look like, and he sees tremendous potential for Sturgis.

“EMS, like all of medicine, is constantly evolving. It’s not that anything here is broken — but it can be better,” he said. “Better billing systems, better training, better education. We can become a shining city on the hill when it comes to emergency care.”

At home, Schillig is a husband and a proud family man. His wife Sara, originally from Turtle Lake, N.D., and raised in the Lead-Deadwood area, met Schillig while he was working as Assistant Ambulance Director in Norton County, Kan. The couple eventually relocated and now call Rapid City home.

Schillig has two daughters — Kortney, 27, who lives in Arizona and Katana, 21, who is attending Fort Hays State University in Kansas. He also has a granddaughter, Tatum.

Schillig’s early exposure to emergency care came unexpectedly. At age 10, he and his father came upon a man who had suffered a heart attack and crashed his car. Though Schillig knew CPR — he had been taught it at school since second grade — his father wouldn’t let him intervene, shielding him from the trauma.

"I was in the ditch, I didn’t know what to do," Schillig recalls. "I wanted to help. I couldn’t."

That moment stayed with him.

At 17, with his parents' permission, Schillig enlisted in the U.S. Navy to "go see the Big Bad World." But his passion for helping others remained. Just before leaving for service, he found himself performing CPR on another accident victim — and though emergency crews praised his efforts, Schillig still felt he hadn’t done enough. That feeling pushed him forward.

After the Navy, he returned to Kansas where the fire chief recruited him almost immediately. "I thought maybe I wanted to be a fireman when I grew up," Schillig said. But fate had other plans.

During a brutal winter accident, Schillig held the head of a pregnant woman pinned behind the wheel for 90 agonizing minutes, waiting for an ambulance. "I said, that can never happen again," he recalls.

Determined to make a difference, he rallied nine of the 18 volunteer firefighters in his department to take an EMT class — held in the basement of a church. Two of them, including Schillig, are still certified today.

That experience launched his career in emergency medicine. Schillig climbed the ranks: from EMT to advanced certifications, then paramedic, flight paramedic, and even tactical paramedic. With each step, he refused to be the person in the ditch who couldn’t help.

"I just didn’t ever want to be in that position again — watching someone hurt and not knowing what to do," he says. “So, I learned. And I kept learning.”

Serving as the new Sturgis Ambulance Director isn’t just about filling a role — it’s about setting the gold standard for emergency medical services across the region.

“I want this to be an example of what EMS should look like, not just in South Dakota, but everywhere,” he said.

In his nearly 30-year career, Schillig has grown to understand the complexities of pre-hospital care. And he knows that rural EMS — like the service in Sturgis — comes with unique challenges.

“Sometimes in a big city, you get eight or 10 responders at a scene. In Sturgis, it might just be you and your partner,” he said. “That’s a lot to ask of two people — from assessing and treating the patient to safely moving them into the ambulance. But this team does it. They do it well.”

His mission in Sturgis is clear: support the team, improve infrastructure, and elevate the level of care for the entire region.

“I consider myself a facilitator of needs,” he explained. “I’m here to make sure our EMTs and paramedics have the tools, training, and support they need to succeed — not just to be good, but to be the best.”

He’s already begun assessing the system and has plans in motion to improve billing processes, strengthen training, and modernize medical protocols.

Schillig says his message to those in Sturgis and the surrounding area is that the Sturgis Ambulance Service is going to provide high-speed, high-quality medical care from the moment they reach a patient until they are transferred to definitive care.

“It starts with people — the medics, EMTs, volunteers — and building a culture that delivers exceptional service,” he said.

He’s also no stranger to one of Sturgis’ most high-profile events - the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. As a flight paramedic, he has been assigned to Rally response in many past years. Now, as a local EMS leader, he’s working with his team to prepare early.

“We’ve already started preplanning,” Schillig said. “We’re developing policies, testing new approaches, and doing everything we can to be ready. The Rally presents a unique challenge — but with the right people and preparation, we’re going to meet it head-on.”

Schillig said that every time he changes jobs it’s a new, scary world out there.

“But this is different — I’ve seen how this system works from the outside, and now I’m on the inside. That gives me a unique opportunity to help move us forward,” he said.

And forward is exactly where he’s aiming.

“I talked to the staff about how this is a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate what we can do — not just in the day-to-day, but in how we respond under pressure during major events like the Rally,” he said. “It’s about refining what’s already here. What we had was very, very good. But I believe we can take it to the next level.”