By Alicia P.Q. Wittmeyer
The Virginian-Pilot
CHESAPEAKE, Va. — When a player was injured at Grassfield High School’s home football game against Oscar Smith this fall, it took more than 10 minutes for help to arrive.
One ambulance was directed to the wrong high school. Another went to the right school but tried to enter the stadium through an entrance that was too small.
It wasn’t a life-threatening injury — the player had wrenched his knee — but the delay caused some to wonder: What if it had been something more serious?
Now, the city’s Fire Department has agreed to ensure a dedicated ambulance will be at every home game. The department is working with the School Board to develop a plan to cover football games next season, said Capt. Steve Johnson, a spokesman for the Fire Department.
“Given the nature of the game, the number of spectators, and the possibility of gang violence, it is our belief that a public safety presence is paramount with regard to immediate, on-site emergency medical coverage,” Interim Fire Chief Ed Elliott wrote in a letter to the school superintendent.
There was a time when volunteer rescue agencies provided staffing at football games, using city equipment, Johnson said.
But as the volume of calls increased, it became more difficult to dedicate trucks to the games, he said. The city moved to a system of keeping professionally staffed ambulances standing by at football games, in case they needed to help out. But in the event of an alarm in the city, they left to respond to the call, Johnson said.
Toward the end of the 2008 season, the city used reserve ambulances and kept them staffed with two off-duty workers, who were paid overtime.
The average cost of staffing a two-hour football game will be about $102, Johnson said.