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Meeting CANCELLED In Columbia for Tonight Concerning Columbia Rescue
Rickey StokesViewed: 2667
Posted by: RStokes
Date: Apr 19 2016 10:12 AM
COLUMBIA: 9:42 AM A notice for a workshop meeting for Columbia Town Council was posted for tonight at 6:30 PM to discuss the volunteer Columbia Rescue.
The meeting notice read " discuss avenues for continued operation of Columbia Rescue Emergency Squad ( C.A.R.E.S. ).
Moments ago we verified this meeting was cancelled. Avenues will be addressed before the town council at the June meeting.
Columbia Volunteer Rescue suffers what all volunteer units have been suffering and that is people being able to respond. A person has to go to school to become a basic, intermediate, or paramedic in order to qualify for response with the ambulance.
After paying for school, then the person has to have a job that will allow the medic to take off when emergencies rise. And the days of employers allowing employees to take off to volunteer to respond, well that just does not exist anymore.
Houston County has Columbia Volunteer Rescue, Ashford Volunteer Rescue, Rehobeth Volunteer Rescue, Cottonwood Volunteer Rescue and Wicksburg Volunteer Rescue. These are the volunteer "medical" rescue responders throughout Houston County.
The Houston County Commission provides each medical rescue unit with $ 24,000.00 a year financial assistance to operate the medical response across the county.
In areas of Houston County where no volunteer ambulance serves, Pilcher Ambulance covers that territory. When a volunteer unit is unable to get a crew, Pilcher Ambulance responds to that area also. There is no supplement given by Houston County to Pilcher Ambulance.
As per State of Alabama guidelines, a volunteer rescue has two minutes to respond via radio the 911 center they have a crew and can take the call. Within 7 minutes the wheels are to be rolling on the ambulance responding to the call.
NOTE: The volunteer's are not allowed to have emergency equipment on their personal vehicle. And often times law enforcement officers 01give the volunteers trouble on their speeding to respond to a call. But, operations like Dothan, the on duty fireman, like Fire Chief/Fire Marshall/EMS Chief are furnished a vehicle equipped with emergency equipment. So they walk out get in the car, flip the lights on and roll if a fire or medical unit needs additional help.
The volunteers are under state mandated response times but not allowed to have the emergency equipment in order to meet those standards. So in addition to problems with people being allowed to volunteer, the volunteers are also restrained on response times.
Often times the volunteers are manned with basic life support. When advanced life support is required normally Dothan Fire or Pilcher Ambulance is mutual aid requested.
The Houston County Commission was told in 2013 when EMA Director Clark Matthews retired, the biggest challenge for the new EMA Director was volunteer response of rescue and fire in the county. While the volunteers do an amazing job, the availability of volunteers is in major decline. Not just Houston County but all over.
The Houston County Commission never assigned that task to EMA. So they are no closer to a plan developed in 2016 then they were in 2013.
The Columbia Rescue issue will be addressed in the June 2016 Columbia Town Council Meeting.
Tonight has been cancelled.
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