Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 25, 1994 TAG: 9409260006
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-10 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Wise once saw two canoeists drown because no one could reach them. He drew from the experience the concept of several men working as a team against accident and death.
Rescue squads still work against accident and death, but today they are just as likely to be called upon by people who don't really require emergency help.
Davis and rescue officers in Blacksburg and Floyd say their already thin squads are being further stretched by these non-emergency calls and by requests to carry people to hospitals - often out of the county - then home again.
"The transports are killing us," Davis said. "People are burning out ... . The problem is: the system is abused."
Recently, the Giles crew got a break when the county-operated paid ambulance service increased its availability and added a second ambulance. The volunteer crew has about 25 active members and answers calls from the edge of Newport to all other parts of the county. The Newport community has its own rescue squad.
Jerry Olinger, captain of the Blacksburg Rescue Squad, said his squad doesn't have the time or volunteers to do non-emergency transports to hospitals.
Transports and minor, non-emergency calls take volunteers away from being available for true emergencies, such as traffic accidents and heart-attack calls. It's frustrating to put together a team to respond to a request for help with a sprained finger or other minor medical problem. In many cases, the person may be able to get to the hospital faster by private car driven by a friend than waiting on an ambulance, Olinger said.
The Blacksburg Rescue Squad has about twice as many volunteers as Christiansburg and responds to about 1,700 calls a year in the 53-square miles it covers as compared to Christiansburg's 2,600 calls and 120-square mile coverage area.
But there's a great deal of turnover in the volunteer ranks, Olinger said, because of the transient nature of a small college town.
In the past, a volunteer could be counted on for 10-15 years of service, Olinger said. "Now, if you get two or three out of them you're doing good."
Floyd County, like Balcksburg, handles only emergency calls and doesn't do transports, said Ford Wirt, captain of the volunteer squad there.
Still, it faces a battle when it comes to having enough people to staff rescue calls, particularly during the day when most volunteers are at their jobs outside the county.
Floyd County's 40 active members cover 384 square miles. There is no hospital in Floyd, so all patients are usually driven either to Roanoke, Salem, Radford or Montgomery County.
That means an average three-hour turn-around time from receiving the initial call to returning to the station, Wirt said. Comparatively, the Christiansburg squad has a turnaround time of 35 minutes to one hour. While businesses in Floyd County support the rescue squad, it is difficult for employers to allow crew members to leave work to respond to a call.
"You're talking almost a half-day production out of your employee," Wirt said.
Wirt, the only active life member of the Floyd County squad, fears what will happen if people don't step forward to volunteer.
"If the community doesn't get involved ... we're going to lose what we've got."
Davis, the Giles captain, said he hopes volunteer squads aren't eventually replaced by paid workers. He believes paid squads would have trouble collecting bills as Medicaid and Medicare will only pay a limited amount for transports.
Like Davis, Wirt says a paid rescue squad is "one of the last things that I'd like to see happen."
Businesses exist to make a profit, Wirt said. "We're here because we want to be."
by CNB