story by ESTHER NOE
DON’ T PANIC
When you know what to do in a medical emergency, you don’ t have to panic. Instead, you can respond with confidence, using knowledge and skills developed through in-depth training.
That’ s the mission of Don’ t Panic, a family-owned business run by Sam and Nora Smolnisky in Custer, S. D., dedicated to preparing responders.
With a bachelor’ s in education, Sam started his career as a high school math teacher. Later, Sam was a ski patroller at Great Bear in Sioux Falls before moving to Turkey for two years. In 2016, while working as a ski patroller in South Dakota, Sam took a Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician( EMT) class in New Hampshire, which inspired his passion for helping people from a medical standpoint.
“ I hadn’ t ski patrolled much in the last couple of years, and I was like,‘ You know, if I’ m going to get back into it, I should really take a higher level course.’ That was initially what got me registered for it. Then, I remember the first ambulance call I went on. I was just like,‘ This is what I want to do. I don’ t want to be inside, in a classroom, teaching high school algebra. I want to be riding on an ambulance. I want to be hiking up a mountain and rescuing people.’
“ I got so much joy from that. It was so rewarding that I reevaluated and said,‘ You know, I want to keep doing this, but I also want to create opportunities for other people to do it,’” said Sam.
Sam and Nora moved to the area in 2017, and right away, Sam joined the Custer Ambulance Service as well as Custer County Search and Rescue( SAR), of which Sam is currently the director. Sam is also a trained paramedic and a ski patroller at Terry Peak.
“ I really enjoyed providing medical care, helping people, exploring the back country, rescuing. One of the things I realized that I missed was teaching. So I went back to my initial trade, and now I’ m educating people on what I enjoy doing, which is
Don ' t Panic utilizes its new, expansive training grounds near Custer, S. D., providing the perfect realistic setting for essential patient assessment demonstrations. Photo courtesy of Paul Meier
4 Down Country Roads January / February 2026