EMS TRAINING … Wauseon EMS personnel practice on a cadaver in the back of one of their squads.
By: Jacob Kessler
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
This year past year has seen many changes for EMS in Fulton County. These changes were largely due to the absence of COVID calls as explained by Wauseon Paramedic Hanna Blankenship.
“I would say that we are not seeing as much of COVID anymore. It is not as much of a bid deal as it used to be. Last year was especially rough though.”
In 2022 Fulton County stood at 3,083 EMS calls for service for the entire year. This averages out to 8.4 calls per day in the county.
Some days though saw a much higher number of calls made, while others saw much lower numbers.
Year-to-date in 2023, Fulton County has answered 1,483 calls for service, or around 7.7 calls per day. If these numbers hold, the county will trend towards only seeing 2,819 calls for 2023.
A good number of these calls will have been sent out due to either a fall or a cardiac event. Fulton County is able to rely on mutual aid for these sorts of calls, especially in case of a cardiac event, or full arrest.
These sorts of calls hit medical professionals hard and are a big mental drain both during and after the call.
“Cardiac arrests can be a mental drain. It is good that we have the people because there’s so many different things going on at one time.”
“We do trainings a lot to make sure everyone has a specific job on cardiac arrests. One person is in charge of something to make sure it all runs smoothly. We call it Pit Crew CPR. Sometimes you have to play more than one spot when your short on people.”
“And you want to bounce ideas back and forth to see if there is anything you missed,” said Wauseon Paramedic Lt. Sean Rossman.
EMS operations are being made easier through numerous technological innovations that continue to come out from year to year. One of those such innovations that has continued to help EMS professionals is automated CPR devices.
Fulton County EMS Director Clayton O’Brien explained that the implementation of these devices has continued to be a focus for EMS in the county.
“We have put into service 14 LUCAS devices. These are automated CPR devices. We replaced our 10–12-year-old units.”
“The cost of the project was $225,000. Now every truck in Fulton County is equipped with these devices.”
O’Brien went on to give information regarding several other projects that are either coming soon or have already been implemented. These projects include putting new Toughbook’s into service in EMS trucks.
These are computers for the crews to use for patient care reports. This project replaced the trucks previous Toughbooks that were ten years old.
The county is also expecting to take possession of two new ambulances within the next 30-60 days.
These squads are set to go to Delta in order to replace a 2002 ambulance and a 2012 ambulance. The county purchases 2 squads each year to ensure continued viability throughout the county.
A new CAD system will also be installed which will give crews live information from dispatch.
Mobile computers will also be installed in the trucks which will give dispatchers the ability to track them via GPS and the ability to talk back to dispatch through other means besides the radio.
EMS Director Clayton O’Brien next went on to explain EMS capabilities in the county. “Fulton County prides themselves on having highly trained personnel ready to respond. They train on a regular basis and are always looking to be on the cutting edge of patient care delivery.”
“We have equipped our crews with the most efficient and durable equipment for them to perform their jobs in the safest manner possible for both the patients they treat and themselves.”
“We dispatch a paramedic to every call. This is different than other areas throughout the state. We are fortunate to have 6+ paramedics on duty daily throughout the county.”
EMS can mean different things to different people. For those who work in the field it may mean one thing, for those who live with those in the field it means another, and for those who call for help it means something else entirely.
“EMS to me means service above self. Providing care for the sick and injured day in and day out is something not everyone is cut out for. Crews work 24-hour shifts, which at times can be very taxing physically and mentally.”
“However, no matter what they respond to, they provide the best possible care they can. A lack of sleep can be very physically taxing, but the things our crews see can weigh on their mental health.”
“The Fulton County Commissioners provide an employee assistance program for all first responders. We are very lucky to have the county commissioners we do, that care so much for all the first responders in the county,” said O’Brien.
Blankenship also explained how she feels about EMS. “EMS means that you are called to people during their worst days. No one gets invited, but you are personally welcomed. It’s an honor.”
“You’re there when people are dying or feel like they are dying. You are there when someone is celebrating the birth of their child.”
“No one else in the world would be able to suit up and be there on those days, but with EMS I get to do that and be there. We pride ourselves on that. That’s what you get in this job, you go.”
“When the pager goes beep beep, it’s time to go. It doesn’t matter where, you just go.”
Jacob can be reached at
jacob@thevillagereporter.com