By: Jacob Kessler
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jacob@thevillagereporter.com
The Fulton County EMS system is a rather special thing for our area. The capabilities and equipment crews have, from one side of the county to the other, are second to none.
Of course, capabilities can be challenged or strained when less-than-ideal situations present themselves.
One of these less-than-ideal situations was explained by the Delta Fire Department’s Assistant Chief, Jon Gillen.
Gillen explained that the closing of St. Lukes has put a challenge on the department as far as transport destinations and travel time goes.
“We have had to transport longer distances depending on the care the patient needs,” explained Gillen. He continued on by stating upgrades being made to the FCHC Heart and Cath Center may alleviate some of the patient transport times.
As far as run numbers go for EMS in the county, last year saw well over 3,000 calls from all jurisdictions. This year, the county as a whole are already over 2,000.
Calls for service for Delta alone have seen an increase year over year. Last year the department received 1124 calls for service, with 819 of those calls being for EMS. This year, so far, the amount of EMS calls is set at 544.
“In general, we transport far more people than those who sign against medical advice and remain home or those that end up going by private vehicle to seek medical attention.
Automatic and Mutual aid throughout the County is needed and every department is called on to help provide services for those in Fulton County. In Delta, we also provide responses into Henry and Lucas Counties for Fire and EMS calls when needed,” said Gillen.
While the St. Luke’s situation has been a less-than-ideal situation for several departments in Northwest Ohio, that compares little to other difficulties faced while working a job where people normally only call when they are experiencing the worst day of their life. However, that is not always the case.
“From time to time we get a patient or a family member that stops at the station and thanks us for transporting them or their family member. This happened recently for a call a few months ago.”
“This year we had a response that involved a long resuscitation with CPR and Advanced care being provided in which the patient made a full recovery. Our ALS unit recently assisted in the delivery of a baby which was another successful or happy ending,” said Gillen.
Many departments are also putting a huge emphasis on training. However, this focus is not being placed solely on EMS and Fire personnel.
Gillen explained that the Delta Fire Department has been diligently engaged in training individuals through diverse methods, encompassing personnel from all ranks within the community.
“In the past two years we have been more actively training responders, police, groups within our community and individuals in CPR and First aid.”
“Through the fire department we provided fire extinguisher training to the community and local businesses. We have two members of the department who went through training to become certified to check and install child seats.”
“We have had four members go from being EMT’s to getting their Paramedic certification in the last year. We have two members going from EMT basic to EMT Advanced.”
“Several newer on call members have passed their fire training and are in EMT basic training right now. In the past year or two we have worked with the school system and police on emergency events and training for emergencies that may happen on school grounds.”
“Through the Delta Fire Department, we were able to train and equip the school staff on CPR, “Stop the Bleed”, and other first aid situations.
“Stop the Bleed” kits are in each classroom of each school and an additional bag is in the hallway near the office in each building.”
“We give out smoke detectors, and CO detectors to the community and help install them. We also sell reflective address signs to the community for the cost of the sign, no profit.”
Gillen attributes some of this success to the partnerships formed with local businesses and organizations, such as with State Farm, Worthington, Nova Tube, and North Star BlueScope. He also went on to speak about their EMS department as a whole.
“In Delta, most of the time we have two paramedics on the ALS unit. This brings more advanced providers right to the scene when a call is placed for EMS.”
‘It also allows us to divide our two paramedics up into separate rigs if we have multiple patients that need ALS, or we can transport with one EMT and one Paramedic while leaving an EMT and a second Paramedic back in town ready to respond to the next call should one come in.”
“Overall, I feel we are in good standing with the community we serve. We don’t wish for anything to happen, but we all join this career path to be there to help others in their time of need.”
“We are very appreciative to the public for their support in the levies for Fire and EMS so we can continue our operations.”
“It is our goal to increase our staffing and response capabilities as our community continues to grow in the commercial sector and grows more residential areas in the future.”
“Delta has a long tradition of service to the community. Our department started the first emergency unit in the county in the 1940’s.”
“I have been on the department for 24 years and our on-call membership has remained strong in numbers and dedication to service. We are a combined department now with full-time, part-time, and on-call members.”
“We have 48 people on the roster currently. 25% of the roster is female, the national average of females in the fire service is around 9%.”
Thank you to the men and women of the Fulton County EMS system for all you do.
