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Ambulance service has come a long wayBy DONJONES There s a birthday coming up.The Gibson County Emergency Ambulance Service will be two years old on January 1, 1978. It is generally agreed that the ambulance service has “come a long way.” There is also a feeling that efforts for improvements need to be continued.The ambulance service is a costly venture for the county, but certainly a necessary one The 1978 budget of the ambulance service will be $229,000; this figure is down from $236,500 for the 1977 budget The county commissioners are responsible for drawing up the budget, and the county council must approve ti, as they do for all county departments The largest portion of the budget goes for personnel of the ambulance service, amounting to $209,300 in 1978. The personnel includes 20 full-time emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and 12 part-time EM-TS, plus a supervisor and three office and communications workers The EMTs receive 81 hours of basic emergency medical training before beginning theirjob. They receive an additional 20 nours of in-service training each year. This provides for well-trained men and women running our ambulance service.The supervisor of the Emergency Ambulance Service is Marvin “Tex” Simmons He and five of the EMTs have been with the service since its beginning two years ago. Simmons is dedicated to his work and strives to provide the best possible ambulance service for Gibson county. He said, “the ambulance service has come a long way” ‘Jnce its birth on January 1, 1976. However, he admits more equipment is needed and a few problems need to be corrected.The county commissioners selected Howard Vire, Gibson General Hospital administrator, to be the overseer of the ambulance service. Vire was asked to help set up an ambulance service two days before the county’s funeral home directors planned to seize their ambulance operationsThe deadline was midnight December 31,1975 and Vire succeeded in reaching it. Two ambulances were leased from Indianapolis and a half dozen men were hired to operate them.Vire commented, It was a job to get the ambulance service started, everybody involved did a fine job — fell the EMTs and the county commissioners. ”Vire feels the ambulance service in Gibson county has improved greatly over what the funeral homes provided. When asked how local people had responded to the ambulance service, Vire commented, “Most people that I have received comments from feel it (the county ambulance service) is doing a good job.” He added, “The EMTs are dedicated, skilled, and interested in rendering the best possible service.”One of the problems the ambulance service has had is the lack of facilities. Two new buildings which went into use this month should solve that problem For the past two years, two ambulances were parked at the emergency entrance of Gibson General Hospital in Princeton and one ambulance has been kept at Wirth Osteopathic Hospital in Oakland City. EMTs in Princeton had to stay in a very small * room near the emergency entrance.Gibson General Hospital constructed a building to house the ambulances and EMTs at a cost of $97,000 The building measures 00 by 50 feet, two-thirds of which will be leased to the Gibson County Emergency Ambulance Service.The county will pay the hospital $65,000 to lease its portion of the building for 15 yean:. The county has an option to least the building for an additional 15 years The hospital will maintain, insure, and repair the building. The county is to pay utilities. Gibson General will be using the remaining one-third of the building for storage space.The new building will provide a main office for the ambulance service, bunks, restrooms, and a lounge for the EMTs, and shelter for two ambulances The building is not quite completed, but the ambulances were moved in to protect them from the snow and ice.The cost of the new building in Oakland City was shared by the county and Wirth Hospital. The 26 by 32 foot building was built at a cost of $22,000 It will house one ambulance.Some people may thing EMTshave an easy job sitting around waiting for a call, but they usually don’t sit for long periods erf time. Simmons says they have made about 1,900 runs so far this year. That’s about five and one-half runs per day. There are some days when they make 10 to 15 runs. That makes for a hectic day.As of Thanksgiving, the ambulance service had completed 1,725 luns in 1977 That total included 248 runs for traffic accidents. The number of runs has increased greatly over 1976, indicating Gibson countians are putting more faith in the ambulance service.The ambulance sen ice classes its runs into four categories. These include emergency, convalescent, transfer, and no service. Over half of the runs are emergency ones Convalescent runs are thosewhere a nursing home patient or home-bound persons is delivered to a hospital for routine treatment or testsOne of the most serious types of accidents which the ambulance service responds to is the car-train accident. In January of 1977, they made six emergency runs involving car-train crashes. Others have been made throughout the year since Gibson county has many railroad corssings which provide danger for motorists.One of the problems associated with the ambulance service is the cost of equipment The EMTs feel additional funds should be spend on equipment. Presently they are using extrication equipment that doesn’t always serve the purpose. Extrication refers to freeing an entangled person from a vehicle. Sometimes a lotof work and time is required to free someone from a badly damaged car or truck.The extrication equipment now in use includes log chains, pry bars, hay hooks, and other miscellaneous tools donated by EMTs and concerned citizens. The county did purchase some 20 foot lengths of chainHoward Vire stated, “studies are presently underway to improve the extrication capabilites of the ambulance service.” He added, “raising money is a problem ”A question in the minds of many concerned Gibson county residents is, “Are three ambulances enough to serve all the people of Gibson county?” That cannot be answered easily.There are approximately 33,000 people living in the county. Some people feel another ambulance is needed There arelimes when the Gibson county ambulances must leave the county to take a patient to. another hospital. From the south Gibson area, many persons wish to be taken to Evansville hospitals Many people in the Hazleton area prefer to go to the hospital in Vincennes The ambulance service must sometimes transfer patients from local hospitals to hospitals in Indianapolis, St. Louis, Louisville, or other larger cities.The Gibson County Ambulance Service has come a long way m the past two years It has overcome many problems and provided Gibson residents with good emergency medical serviceAnd by the way, Happy Birthday” to the Gibson County Emergency Ambulance Service.
Newspaper Details
Princeton Clarion Dollar Saver
Princeton, Indiana, US
Wed, Dec 28, 1977
Page 13
Full Page
Clipped by
Michelle M.
USA 15 Apr 2024
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