Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 17, 1994 TAG: 9409190019
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GOODE LENGTH: Medium
Everybody wants a bite out of it.
Bedford Life Saving Crew, the oldest of nine Bedford County volunteer rescue squads, has had a virtual monopoly on services - and fund raising - in Goode for 50 years. Serving citizens in an eight-to-10-mile radius of Bedford, the crew has the county's largest rescue-squad coverage area, and Goode accounts for about one-third of it.
Now, a group wants to form a new, independent rescue squad in Goode. The 20-plus members of the group say they can serve their own community faster and more efficiently.
If the state certifies the group and the county Board of Supervisors approves, it would supplant Bedford Life Saving Crew as the primary rescue unit in Goode.
That has set off a feeding frenzy for the territory and the important fund-raising dollars that come with it.
The district brings in $9,000 or more to Bedford Life Saving Crew's annual fund drive. The crew opened a Goode satellite rescue station with a new ambulance three years ago with a one-time contribution of $30,000 from Goode residents and civic groups.
Robert and Edie Ballagh were rescue workers in the satellite station when it opened. They said they quit when a fellow rescue worker reported Edie Ballagh and other workers for taking their personal cars directly to an emergency call instead of waiting for the ambulance, which took longer to arrive because it was farther away.
The Ballaghs helped form a committee of rescue workers that started certification classes last year to train members for an independent Goode squad.
The committee includes members of the Bedford Life Saving Crew.
The committee said the Goode satellite station used by Bedford Life Saving Crew is rented on a monthly basis. The Goode group has arranged to take over the lease if it is certified.
Boonsboro Rescue Squad will donate an ambulance and the community supports the switch, the committee said. The service can be running by December or January, it said.
"We live here, we're certified and we like to practice our skill. We enjoy the camaraderie and, with the potential for rapid response and quality care, we can serve this area as well as any rescue squad," Robert Ballagh said.
Janet Blankenship, a cardiac-care technician with Bedford Life Saving Crew, lives in Goode and plans to serve on the new squad.
"If you have friends and neighbors who need help, it makes them feel better to know there's somebody nearby who can help," she said.
Donna Jones said she liked the idea of other Goode residents answering her emergency call.
"Goode is a big area. There's lots of back roads. You've got to know where you're going or you'll get lost," she said.
Lucille Boggess, county supervisor for the Goode District, said if the state certifies the new squad, the county would "certainly" follow suit.
"As a supervisor, all I'm interested in is seeing that the citizens in Goode receive the best services possible," she said.
Still, the Bedford Life Saving Crew isn't throwing in the towel. At a recent community meeting to discuss the new squad, Bedford Life Saving Crew's administration warned Goode residents: With a new rescue squad, you never know what you're going to get.
"Our chief concern is providing patient care," Jeff Johnson, Bedford crew captain, said later. "We want to make sure [Goode residents] will still get what they're getting now.
"I'm not saying the [would-be squad members] aren't as qualified, but would you rather have somebody come pick you up who answers two calls a month or someone who answers 20 calls a month?"
Until recently, the only other emergency-services group to serve Goode has been Campbell County's volunteer rescue squad, which sometimes answers calls in Goode if Bedford is busy.
"Whatever the community wishes, we'll support it in terms of mutual aid," said Steve Coleman, captain of the Campbell County squad. "If Goode decides to form its own rescue squad, we'll be out there to help them because we want to save lives."
by CNB