Blog: Public Safety Personnel Gather at Westminster Fire Hall to Mark EMS Week

This week, May 20 – May 26, is National EMS Week when emergency medical crews in Carroll County and throughout the country are honored for their work.

To mark the occasion, emergency medical services providers, firefighters, and administrative personnel at the Westminster Fire Engine and Hose Co. No. 1 gathered for a luncheon Tuesday in the day room of firehouse.

A proclamation by Westminster Mayor Kevin Utz was presented that noted that emergency medical services are a vital public service and that members of the EMS teams “are ready to provide lifesaving care to those in need 24 hours a day, seven days a week…"

Utz’s proclamation also called attention to the number of personnel with various titles, who must work together seamlessly to provide the level of emergency care that citizens in Carroll County have come to expect, “the emergency medical services system consists of emergency physicians, emergency nurses, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, firefighters, educators, administrators…”

According to the website for the American College of Emergency Physicians, (ACEP,) “National Emergency Medical Services Week brings together local communities and medical personnel to publicize safety and honor the dedication of those who provide the day-to-day lifesaving services of medicine's 'front line.’”

EMS personnel are often on the front line and are among the first to arrive upon the scene of an accident, medical emergency or natural disaster.

Whether it is an injury as the result of a crime, home or workplace accident, a fire, automobile accident, heart attack, or a natural disaster, EMS personnel arrive in minutes to attend to the sick or injured on site and see to it that the patients are safely transported to the hospital.

Many folks in the community take it for granted that these critical life-saving public safety personnel are always available on medicine’s front line in the community simply by making a phone call.

Years of training goes in to being an emergency service provider or a firefighter. The mayor’s proclamation noted “the members of the emergency medical teams, whether career or volunteer, engage in thousands of hours of specialized training and continuing education…”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics held about 226,500 jobs in 2010. They work both indoors and outdoors, in all types of weather. Their work is physically strenuous and can be stressful, sometimes involving life-or-death situations and patients who are suffering…”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported, “EMTs and paramedics experience a much larger than average number of work-related injuries or illnesses. They are required to do considerable kneeling, bending, and lifting while caring for and moving patients.

“They may be exposed to contagious diseases, such as hepatitis B and AIDS. Sometimes they can be injured by mentally unstable or combative patients. These risks can be reduced by following proper safety procedures, such as waiting for police to clear an area in violent situations or wearing gloves while working with a patient.”

Many citizens in Carroll County are not aware that firefighting and ambulance services are provided by volunteers, (with paid personnel on duty to assure seamless 24-hour-a-day coverage,) despite the long hours, the dangers and the many years of training.

Although the county and town governments do contribute some taxpayer dollars for the services, much of the money is raised by community fund raising events, carnivals, raffles, bingo and citizen donations.

The ACEP web site explains that EMS Week dates back to when President Gerald Ford first declared November 3 – 10, 1974 National Emergency Medical Services Week. Over the years, the week to recognize the work of EMS personnel moved to various dates in the calendar year before it was settled in 1992 to be the 3rd week in May.

On Tuesday, some of the conversation at the luncheon turned to the latest training requirements and how to juggle the long hours of instruction with the demands of family.

Other conversations included plans for the summer or how the family was going to spend the upcoming Memorial Day weekend – and who was going to work at the firehouse on the holiday.

This year’s theme for National EMS Week is “EMS: More Than A Job. A Calling.” To listen to the public safety personnel at the luncheon, it is obvious that putting aside their own personal safety to save the lives of others is a calling – especially for the many EMS providers who volunteer their services for the Westminster fire department or any of the fourteen volunteer departments in Carroll County.

The writer, Kevin Dayhoff, is the chaplain of the Westminster Fire Engine and Hose Co. No. 1