February 22, 2007
Editorial

Heroes Needed For Ambulance Duty

In a small community, we all need to rely on each other more than in the metropolitan areas where an abundance of dollars frequently offsets an absence of spirit.

In a big city, where people don’t know each other or care about each other, citizens can just throw dollars at whatever problem comes along.

But here, we need to step up as individuals and as a community to look out for our neighbors.

This is particularly true when it comes to such entities as fire and ambulance service.

The Pioche ambulance service is running into a shortage of volunteer EMTs.

The ambulance service in Rachel has already shut down their ambulance service for lack of trained attendants.

The problem is compounded by arrogant and insensitive state rules that require ambulances to be staffed by certified personnel.

Back in the day, all it took to create an ambulance service was a fast station wagon with a loud siren, a fearless driver, and a caring person who could figure out how to apply a band-aid and a tourniquet.

Now, you can’t save your neighbor unless you’ve got half a dozen initials behind your name, like EMT, IVT, ALS, etc.

Obviously the improved training results in better survivability rates for victims of accidents and illness.

But sometimes, all you really need is to get to the hospital in a hurry.

In rural areas, the problem is compounded because we don’t have the training facilities for EMTs that larger cities can provide, or large reserve pools of people who can spend the time on that training.

More importantly, we don’t have the budget necessary to pay people to be on call for the next 911 episode.

This means that we all must rely on the kindness of our neighbors and the dedication of selfless individuals to step up, make the sacrifice of time necessary to jump through the state’s hoops, attend the classes, pass the tests, get the certifications, then devote countless hours away from home while attending to the injured and infirmed.

We have a word for such selfless people.

Heroes.

Unfortunately, right now we have a shortage of such heroes in Lincoln County.

And it’s going to take more than a klieg light shining an image of a flying rodent against a clouded sky, an impassioned phone call from police commissioner Gordon, or a quick change of wardrobe in a phone booth to fill the bill.

We need people willing to step up, take the classes, and make the commitment to roll out of bed at 3 a.m. when there’s blood on the highway.

We need EMTs.

The good news is that this isn’t like volunteering to man the cookie table at a church social.

Being the first on an accident scene, working inside the yellow tape, and occasionally saving a human life brings its own boxful of rewards, what my friend Bill McClure used to call “psychic income.”

It’s exciting work, and probably more meaningful than just about anything you do at the regular job where you earn your weekly paycheck.

So if you have some extra time, the courage to witness human suffering at it’s most mortal moment, and the desire to make a difference in your town, please contact the county and sign up for the next EMT class.

We need you.