Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 19, 1995 TAG: 9508210013
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GOODE LENGTH: Medium
Someone was having a heart attack and the ambulance hadn't gotten there yet; could she come over and help?
Otey, a licensed nurse, ran over to see what she could do.
Despite her best efforts and those of volunteers who arrived later from a nearby rescue squad, her neighbor didn't make it.
"When you're in a situation like that, it seems like forever" until a rescue squad arrives, Otey said. Although a quicker response probably wouldn't have made any difference, it would have been a comfort, she said, if the ambulance had gotten there sooner or if other folks nearby were trained in first aid.
Chances are, the next time one of her neighbors has an emergency, Otey will be one of the volunteer rescuers getting out of the ambulance.
Since last September, Otey and 22 of her neighbors in this fast-growing rural community in western Bedford County have been working to set up their own volunteer rescue squad.
On Monday, the Goode Rescue Squad will be inspected for its state certification. If it's approved, squad members could begin answering calls as soon as next month.
"When they started this, I said this is what I'm interested in doing - helping local people," Sharon Cree said. "It's exciting getting this close."
Cree was a volunteer emergency medical technician in New York before she moved here in 1990. The Goode Rescue Squad's members range in experience from a 10-year emergency medical service veteran with extensive training to those who have never volunteered before.
Thirteen of the squad's 23 volunteers are first-time rescuers who took EMT classes over the last year. One of them is Susan McGehee, a housewife and mother of five who says she's always wanted to learn how to help sick and injured people.
"This will be my first time with a squad," she said. "Knowing that there are nurses and other qualified people [in the squad] to help you is very comforting."
What new members lack in experience, they make up for in their knowledge of the community, according to Rob and Edie Ballagh, the squad's founders.
"With so many local people in the squad coming and going, the chances of somebody seeing an accident and responding to it immediately are much better," Rob Ballagh said.
His wife added: "Even if the patient is terminal, wouldn't you rather have your neighbors in there working on you - people who know you - rather than strangers? I think we're going to be a lot more sensitive."
The Goode Rescue Squad plans to take over about a third of the territory that is now covered by the volunteer Bedford Life Saving Crew. It also will take over Bedford's rescue station in Goode.
That has caused some sparks between the two groups. Bedford's fund raising has been hurt by competition from the Goode Rescue Squad organizers over the past year. At least two Bedford members plan to quit and join the Goode squad.
Also, Bedford members didn't give up their Goode station voluntarily. The owner of the property - a Goode Rescue Squad supporter - told them to vacate.
When Goode is inspected Monday, state inspectors will look at its vehicles, equipment and records in the gravel driveway outside the station because Bedford still has the use of the building until September.
"Politics seems to play a big part in the help we're getting and not getting, and that loses sight of what we're here for," Goode volunteer Vicki Lantrip said. "We're here for the good of the community."
Bedford Life Saving Crew Capt. Jeff Johnson said his squad will continue to patrol the Goode area until told otherwise. But if the Goode Rescue Squad is certified, he said, Bedford will cooperate with them.
Goode has gotten a lot of support from other rescue squads. Boonsboro Fire and Rescue donated an ambulance, and a rescue squad in Ferrum gave Goode a four-wheel-drive vehicle and pagers. Others have given training, stretchers, medical equipment and radios.
Even though the squad is starting with some controversy, "You just got to do your job and put that behind you," said Bob Auxier, a Bedford crew member who's helping to organize the Goode squad. "The feeling you get from helping somebody is a feeling that stays with you."
by CNB