By Linda Payne
The News-Topic
LENOIR, N.C. — Residents in the North Catawba Fire District can rest easier tonight knowing that someone is watching over them and their family.
As part of a new arrangement between North Catawba Fire and Rescue and Caldwell County Emergency Medical Services, residents have access to a trained paramedic at no additional cost.
The new partnership welcomes the addition of county rescue personnel to the department 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This paramedic is stationed at North Catawba for his/her entire shift and responds whenever the tones sound.
“This new arrangement has been a tremendous benefit to our community,” said Dennis Hopkins, North Catawba assistant chief. “We are able to set up and establish patient care before the ambulance arrives because we now have all the same equipment. We also have an extra set of hands on every call and additional protection should we need it during a house fire.”
EMS Director Tommy Courtner said they originally placed an ambulance and its crew at the department 12 hours a day, but it wasn’t assigned to the North Catawba district. He said the crew served as a backup for calls throughout the county. This often left North Catawba without access to an ambulance for hours at a time, which didn’t work with the rise in calls.
Now, Courtner said the paramedic’s primary responsibility is the North Catawba district. No longer is that paramedic running all across town. Instead, he/she cares for the patient until the ambulance arrives for transport and then the paramedic goes back to the department with the firefighters.
As part of the agreement, Courtner said North Catawba personnel have agreed to house the paramedic, supply the vehicles and place a Caldwell County EMS sticker on their trucks. In return, EMS has certified the vehicles as advanced life support and provided all of the necessary equipment.
“It’s just a win-win situation for all of us,” Courtner said. “We looked at the possibility of constructing a building out in this direction to handle the rise in calls, but that was going to cost the county a lot of money. Now that we have realized the reality of working together, we are able to spread our resources across the county to benefit our citizens.”
Jason Robbins, a North Catawba captain, said the benefits associated with this change are endless. He said they have seen response times increase as well as the survival rate. Since the end of August, Robbins said the department has responded to at least 180 EMS calls. Of those calls, 100 required the assistance of first responders, and the other 80 required the use of advanced life support.
“Our ability to respond faster has made a tremendous difference in this community,” said paramedic Kenneth Hinson. “We are able to perform all of the same duties as the crews on the regular ambulance, but by being stationed out here, we are able to respond faster. We also are here to help the surrounding communities as well.”
An additional benefit to the new program is the bond being made, said North Catawba Fire Chief Randy Swanson. Even though both organizations respond to similar calls, Swanson said the men and women on the front lines don’t always know each other. Now that they are spending an entire shift together, a new level of trust is being created.
“It is a great thing going on out here,” Swanson said. “Our department has welcomed the paramedics with open arms, and they appear to enjoy their time out here. We have established a great working relationship, and I think they have developed a new sense of camaraderie.”
Courtner said he has visions of expanding this partnership to every fire department in the county. He said he would love to see 24-hour coverage at every department, but he realizes that will take time.
“We focused on this area of the county because of its high call volume, but it is our hope to expand this partnership to all of our communities,” said Caldwell County Commissioner Don Barrier. “Our assets are limited, so we must work together to put our resources where they are needed the most with the right people. It is our goal to create a model that other counties will follow across the state. It is just a matter of time.”
Copyright 2009
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News