By Mary Beth Lane
The Columbus Dispatch
DELAWARE, Ohio — Grateful residents have given Christmas cookies to medics with Delaware County Emergency Medical Services, but a $10,000 holiday gift is a first.
Yesterday, county commissioners approved transferring the $10,000 from the general fund to the EMS, which plans to use the money to improve its hand-held carbon-monoxide sensors.
A Westerville woman, who wished to remain anonymous, dropped off the check to medics at Station One in Delaware, among the 11 stations that the countywide service runs, on Dec. 28 and wished the medics “merry Christmas,” said EMS Chief Rob Farmer.
She said in a handwritten note enclosed with the check that the gift was her way of saying thank you. Last summer, while visiting a friend north of the city of Delaware, she became ill, and medics took her to a hospital, Farmer said.
“Holy-moly,” said the Station One medics, who called up the chain of command, asking what to do with the check, Farmer said. County Treasurer Jon Peterson deposited the money in the general fund.
It stayed there while the EMS decided how best to use the gift. Yesterday’s transfer allows the EMS to proceed.
“We want to make sure we do something special with it,” Farmer said.
The EMS has decided to buy child-sized finger clips for its 12 carbon-monoxide detectors. The detectors currently have only adult-sized clips. The handheld sensors connect to clothespin-like clips that attach to fingers to measure carbon monoxide and oxygen levels in the blood and heart rate.
The clips are so expensive that most of the $10,000 will be used, Farmer said.
Copyright 2010 The Columbus Dispatch