While everyone was probably still asleep in anticipation of Christmas morning, a call came through 911 reporting a vehicle fire at the Parsons fire station. The EMS crew at station 1, across from the fire station, went outside and extinguished the truck fire using two dry chemical extinguishers. Crew shift change happened at 8am after things were cleaned up. The remainder of Christmas morning was quiet for the one crew on duty. That was about to change. At 315 pm, the crew responded and transported a patient from Thomas to Garrett Medical Center. While responding to the call in progress, at 329 pm a second call came in for breathing difficulties for a patient in Hendricks. Mutual aid was called to handle this event. At 431 pm, another call reporting medical pain came in from near Riverview Church. As the duty crew was still out of county from a prior call, mutual aid was again called however NO crews were available to provide assistance. When the Tucker EMS crew returned to the county they responded to this outstanding call. While this was event was ongoing, still another call for general illness came in from Parsons at 621 pm. When Randolph County responded at our request, the patient had left the residence. At 738 pm, a repeat EMS call came in for the Parsons location. Once again mutual aid was called and Randolph County responded as our crew was still at the hospital. Upon returning from the hospital, the two Tucker County EMTs on duty split and paired up with two volunteer firefighter drivers certified as EMS drivers to handle the 750 pm a call from Hambleton. Then at 835 pm, another call was received from Location Road in St. George for a diabetic emergency. This call ultimately culminated in both ambulances and fire squad supporting a life flight transport for the patient on location Road to the heliport at St. George Medical Center at about 10pm Christmas night. Finally, at 1020 pm both EMS crews refueled their vehicles and returned to station for the remainder of their shift. The volunteer drivers returned to their families for the end of their Christmas day. Fortunately, all these calls were ultimately handled with successful outcomes. Is there any doubt as to why we should consider funding two EMS crews, each hopefully comprised of a Paramedic and an EMT, 24 hours each and every day? Had a different set of medical conditions been presented , it is very likely that the outcomes would have been very different.
