CHRISTMAS PROGRAM … “Lighting the Way to Christmas” Memorial Program, sponsored by Parkview-Montpelier Hospital Auxiliary, was held Sunday, Dec. 7th at 3:00 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church in Montpelier. Shown are program participants, from left to right, front row–Nancy & Jim Gallehue-flute musicians, Auxiliary President Elaine Willibey, and Sara Dye, Parkview-Bryan Hospital Volunteer Coordinator and Community Health Improvement-Lead; back row—Rev. Jan Desterhaft of First Presbyterian Church who delivered the message, Master of Ceremonies Bill Priest, Rev. Marc Lapointe of St. John’s Lutheran Church who offered the invocation and benediction, and Kay Briner, organist. Thanks for all who participated and attended.
LUNCHEON SPEAKER … Parkview-Montpelier Hospital Auxiliary members gathered Monday, Dec. 8th for their Christmas luncheon meeting at First Presbyterian Church in Montpelier. They are pictured with donations of paper products and cleaning supplies donated to Helping Hands Food Pantry in Montpelier and their speaker. From left to right, front row (seated)—Jean Darby, Patty Ledyard, Vice President Lynn Watson and Gloria Poorman; back row (standing)—Jean Scott, Jill Beck, Secretary Connie Dunseth, Historian Ruth Cooley, Marty Brace, President Elaine Willibey, Jr. Past President Linda Dilworth, guest speaker Williams Co. EMS Chief Kyle Brigle, Armeda Sawmiller, Linda Thornton, and Treasurer Joyce Schelling.
PRESS RELEASE – Williams County EMS Chief Kyle Brigle served as guest speaker at Parkview-Montpelier Hospital Auxiliary’s Christmas noon luncheon meeting Monday, Dec. 8th at First Presbyterian Church in Montpelier.
Auxiliary President Elaine Willibey welcomed everyone for attending and following grace a delicious chicken meal was served. Jr.
Past President Linda Dilworth, program committee member, introduced EMS Chief Brigle, who has served with the county EMS for 21 years.
Organized in 1979, the Williams County Emergency Medical Services has seen many changes over the years.
Mr. Brigle’s mother was one of the first EMTs to serve. Prior to the founding of the EMS, funeral homes around the county provided ambulances to transport patients to and from hospitals.
Training Officer John Noyes currently serves as the training instructor for the county’s “in-house” state-certified training center with over 900 taking classes to date.
Other training centers offer EMS training classes costing over $5,000 per student. This cost is significantly reduced by having localized training for all three levels—EMT (40 hours), advanced EMT (60 hours) and Paramedic (90 hours) certifications. Nation-wide there is a shortage of all levels of EMTs.
The agency currently employs 16 full-time and over 25 part-time staff, paid for each run. Staff are not compensated for on-call hours.
Williams Co. EMS responds to all 911 calls and is used for transfers to and from Parkview-Montpelier & Parkview-Bryan to Ft. Wayne, IN and Toledo, OH hospitals.
This year EMS units have already made 4,761 runs. Squad units are positioned in Montpelier & Bryan with a “busy hour” truck in Edon to cover the western part of the county. Several volunteers made it possible to station a unit back in Pioneer.
All 911 calls are routed through the Williams Communications, Average response time is 14 minutes, faster than the state average of 17 minutes.
The number one call for help is for weakness (which may lead to falls), and the number two call is for chest pain.
Since the proposed tax levies in November did not pass by voters, local EMS had to find ways to lower costs. In the past, EMS has been somewhat self-sufficient with insurance payments covering costs.
However, this is not currently the case and adjustments were made including cutting back on staff and switching billing operations to another agency.
Costs have also risen as a result of constant advances in health care technology. Cots are now battery-powered to lift and lower patients from the ambulance unit.
Cardiac monitors cost from $50,000-$60,000. The Lucas Device with 105 compressions per minute, costing $18,000, is used to perform CPR while the vehicle is moving, something not possible by an EMT manually.
Williams County EMS primary concern is the need to help the community. The agency partnered with the United Way for both a food drive and toy drive to assist local needy families during the Christmas season.
The agency is available for speaker programs at schools and local organizations and schedules CPR classes. Following the program, an appreciation gift was presented to EMS Chief Brigle.
Auxiliary President Elaine Willibey then conducted the business portion of the meeting with sharing the thought for the day—“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched-they must be felt with the heart” by Helen Keller. Roll call was answered to “What is your favorite Christmas theme?”.
New member Linda Thornton was welcomed. Reports were given by Secretary Conie Dunseth and Treasurer Joyce Schelling.
Parkview Volunteer Coordinator Sara Dye, who also serves as Bryan liaison to the auxiliary, shared that the Blessing Tree Christmas gifts collected will be helping 98 Four County Career Center students and their families.
She is also a member of the Patient-Family Care Advisory Board, which is donating $5,000 to the county’s food pantries for the holiday season.
President Elaine thanked all who assisted with the annual “Lighting the Way to Christmas” memorial program Sunday afternoon, Dec. 7th at First Presbyterian Church in Montpelier.
Jean Darby, committee chairman of the auxiliary’s Christmas treats for Montpelier Hospital staff, reported these will soon be available at six different stations in the hospital.
Auxiliary members donated items to restock the hospital’s patient activity cart, purchased by the auxiliary, and these were delivered to Tammy Wright, Activity Director. The auxiliary also approved buying a new CD player for the department.
Plans for the auxiliary’s silent auction next year are underway with Linda Dilworth as chairman.
At the luncheon members signed Christmas cards to be delivered to the hospital patients and staff and donated paper products and cleaning supplies for the Helping Hands food pantry.
Joyce Schelling has patient favors for December and Gloria Poorman will take care of January favors.
The next auxiliary general meeting is Monday, Jan. 12th at 1:00 p.m. in the Montpelier Hospital conference room.
Guest speaker will be Sandy Gordon, Montpelier Parks & Recreation Director, who will discuss activities planned to celebrate the USA’s 250th anniversary.
Roll call will be “How did you celebrate New Year’s Eve?”. Guests are always welcome to attend.