By Judy Garrison

Way at the back of our minds, even behind the uneasy thought that we could be in a life threatening accident on one of Andes’ back roads, or a fear of having a heart attack in the middle of the night, is the comforting thought that we have a highly trained local squad whose volunteers will be at the scene or our bedside within minutes of a 911 call. This is largely a reasonable expectation, but, unfortunately, not a guarantee into the future. At one time the squad had 25 members, and handled “on average” 90 calls a year; now the squad is much reduced, and experiences 60-70 calls per year. This is still a lot of calls for a squad of 8, and while no calls may occur in one month, 13 may come in the next. This reporter decided to find out what she could about the emergency response system.

Janice Brannen is Captain, Laurie Andrews is 1 st Lieutenant, Jay Tweedie is 2nd Lieutenant and Supply Officer, Mike Terry is Training Officer, Jim Andrews is Secretary and Tracy Gardner is Treasurer. Current members of the squad can be designated as drivers, CFR’s or EMT’s. Technicians must be state certified, and they, along with drivers, must be members of the Fire Department to be covered by district insurance. Anyone wishing to be a driver is encouraged to join the Fire Department and take the safe driving course. Current drivers are Ed Winner, Ken Stalter, Paul Markert, Richie Gabriel, Rick Reed and Dave Hein. Certified First Responders (CFR’s) take roughly ½ of the full Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) course, or about 80 hours. Current CFR’s are Cliff Johnston, Tracy Gardner, and Tina Moshier.

The EMT course, of about 140 hours plus 10 hours of ambulance ride time and 10 hours of hospital emergency room experience, gives a lot of classroom training, including how to deal with allergic reactions, drug overdoses, cardiac emergencies and mental conditions, as well as traumatic accidents. The current EMT’s are Janice, Jim, Laurie, Jay and Mike. Even with all their training, the public should know that they are not diagnosticians and can’t administer drugs. Their role is to treat, within their scope of training, what they see and to ensure that the patient is transported to a health care facility with no additional damage. Advanced level technicians—none currently on our squad—can administer drugs and start IV’s. The squad holds regular training drills which stress working as a team and can include entrapment scenarios where extrication with the “jaws of life” might be practiced, and scenarios which include the bizarre or unpredictable behavior of an accident victim. The Andes Fire District provides the Squad with two fully equipped four- wheel- drive ambulances.

Now the squad is dispatched from Sidney through Delaware County’s 911 system. All Squad members, as well as all firefighters, have pagers, which can reach most of the county. The local Squad assigns a schedule that theoretically covers 24/7 for the five active EMT’s and three active first responders. If 911 Dispatch doesn’t hear from a squad member within ten minutes, a neighboring squad is called for Mutual Aid to answer the call. Each ambulance is equipped with radios and cell phones so they can be in constant contact with the central dispatcher. Once the patient is loaded, the volunteers radio the receiving facility and give a general description of the patient’s vital sign information and the symptoms being presented. They also convey the estimated time of arrival to the hospital, and indicate any treatment being given. State protocols mandate that for certain situations an Advanced Life Support (ALS) technician be dispatched. In our case these higher trained personnel would usually come from Delhi or Margaretville, depending upon the patient’s choice of hospital. Many times civilians on the scene are utilized for lifting. The 911 Dispatch will send out additional manpower if requested by a squad. Our Squad also answers all fire calls as well as supplying Mutual Aid for neighboring communities if requested.

What is important to convey when you call 911? Of course the personnel are trained to ask you the relevant questions, but be prepared to offer an accurate description of location, which would include 911 address, or cell phone number (since the 911 system is not capable of determining cell phone locations) and nearest cross section of roads if you are near no physical address; your hospital and physician’s name; if patient is bleeding profusely, or is unconscious or not breathing. If the patient is on any medications, they should accompany him to the hospital. Other advice that volunteers emphatically offer: if you think you have a medical emergency, don’t wait! The squad would rather transport someone with a false alarm than discover the patient suffered severe chest pains for six hours before calling, only to incur irreversible damage.

What should be clear is that there is a real need for new members. One explanation given for the scarcity of new volunteers is that as the demographics of the area have changed there aren’t as many

bedside within minutes of a 911 call. This is largely a reasonable expectation, but, unfortunately, not a guarantee into the future. At one time the squad had 25 members, and handled “on average” 90 calls a year; now the squad is much reduced, and experiences 60-70 calls per year. This is still a lot of calls for a squad of 8, and while no calls may occur in one month, 13 may come in the next. This reporter decided to find out what she could about the emergency response system.

Janice Brannen is Captain, Laurie Andrews is 1

st Lieutenant, Jay Tweedie is 2nd Lieutenant and Supply Officer, Mike Terry is Training Officer, Jim Andrews is Secretary and Tracy Gardner is Treasurer. Current members of the squad can be designated as drivers, CFR’s or EMT’s. Technicians must be state certified, and they, along with drivers, must be members of the Fire Department to be covered by district insurance. Anyone wishing to be a driver is encouraged to join the Fire Department and take the safe driving course. Current drivers are Ed Winner, Ken Stalter, Paul Markert, Richie Gabriel, Rick Reed and Dave Hein. Certified First Responders (CFR’s) take roughly ½ of the full Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) course, or about 80 hours. Current CFR’s are Cliff Johnston, Tracy Gardner, and Tina Moshier.

The EMT course, of about 140 hours plus 10 hours of ambulance ride time and 10 hours of hospital emergency room experience, gives a lot of classroom training, including how to deal with allergic reactions, drug overdoses, cardiac emergencies and mental conditions, as well as traumatic accidents. The current EMT’s are Janice, Jim, Laurie, Jay and Mike. Even with all their training, the public should know that they are not diagnosticians and can’t administer drugs. Their role is to treat, within their scope of training, what they see and to ensure that the patient is transported to a health care facility with no additional damage. Advanced level technicians—none currently on our squad—can administer drugs and start IV’s. The squad holds regular training drills which stress working as a team and can include entrapment scenarios where extrication with the “jaws of life” might be practiced, and scenarios which include the bizarre or unpredictable behavior of an accident victim. The Andes Fire District provides the Squad with two fully equipped four- wheel- drive ambulances.

Now the squad is dispatched from Sidney through Delaware County’s 911 system. All Squad members, as well as all firefighters, have pagers, which can reach most of the county. The local Squad assigns a schedule that theoretically covers 24/7 for the five active EMT’s and three active first responders. If 911 Dispatch doesn’t hear from a squad member within ten minutes, a neighboring squad is called for Mutual Aid to answer the call. Each ambulance is equipped with radios and cell phones so they can be in constant contact with the central dispatcher. Once the patient is loaded, the volunteers radio the receiving facility and give a general description of the patient’s vital sign information and the symptoms being presented. They also convey the estimated time of arrival to the hospital, and indicate any treatment being given. State protocols mandate that for certain situations an Advanced Life Support (ALS) technician be dispatched. In our case these higher trained personnel would usually come from Delhi or Margaretville, depending upon the patient’s choice of hospital. Many times civilians on the scene are utilized for lifting. The 911 Dispatch will send out additional manpower if requested by a squad. Our Squad also answers all fire calls as well as supplying Mutual Aid for neighboring communities if requested.

What is important to convey when you call 911? Of course the personnel are trained to ask you the relevant questions, but be prepared to offer an accurate description of location, which would include 911 address, or cell phone number (since the 911 system is not capable of determining cell phone locations) and nearest cross section of roads if you are near no physical address; your hospital and physician’s name; if patient is bleeding profusely, or is unconscious or not breathing. If the patient is on any medications, they should accompany him to the hospital. Other advice that volunteers emphatically offer: if you think you have a medical emergency, don’t wait! The squad would rather transport someone with a false alarm than discover the patient suffered severe chest pains for six hours before calling, only to incur irreversible damage.

What should be clear is that there is a real need for new members. One explanation given for the scarcity of new volunteers is that as the demographics of the area have changed there aren’t as many young people following the traditions of their fathers, uncles and aunts. The Squad is fortunate to have three new recruits presently taking EMT and CFR classes. The current volunteers know that they are providing the most vital of community services. We should keep in mind that even being on call, without an actual call, restricts a volunteer’s movement. Knowing he or she should be within ten minutes of the Fire Hall it seems only fair that the schedule be distributed among a larger number of volunteers. If you don’t already have the training, you can get it. Inquiries should be sent to the Andes Emergency Squad, P.O. Box 112, Andes, New York 13731. ~