The Daily Standard
Story Archive
The New Bremen EMS squad was founded by New Bremen, Minster and Fort Loramie on July 1, 1975. The public is invited to a New Bremen EMS 50th anniversary open house from 1-4 p.m. June 29 at 317 N. Walnut St., New Bremen.
NEW BREMEN - For nearly 50 years, the New Bremen Emergency Squad has provided life-saving care and around-the-clock attention to village residents.
Mayor Robert Parker issued a proclamation recognizing New Bremen Emergency Medical Services and its founding and current members for providing vital services.
"Access to quality emergency care dramatically improves the survival and recovery of those who experience sudden illness or injury, whereas the volunteers of emergency medical services consist of first responders, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, emergency medical dispatchers, firefighters, police officers, educators, administrators, pre-hospital nurses, emergency nurses, emergency physicians, trained members of the public and other out-of-hospital medical care providers," the proclamation reads.
Council president Jacob Larger read the proclamation on behalf of Parker at the regular council meeting on Monday.
"I just think that's so cool that we've got people willing to dedicate literally thousands of hours in their spare time to help out the village," Larger said. "I think that's what makes the community strong."
The New Bremen Emergency Squad Inc., founded July 1, 1975, is an independent, not-for-profit organization. It is staffed by more than 20 members and although it is separate from the village's fire department, several members are also firefighters. The squad has two fully equipped advanced life support ambulances, said former squad administrator Linda Emmons. Although she handed over the reins, she still helps out, though will retire from all shifts July 1.
The squad was founded by New Bremen, Minster and Fort Loramie. The all-volunteer squad has three paramedics, one nurse, four advanced EMTs, eight EMTs and five drivers.
In its 50 years, Emmons said technology and policies have been constantly evolving and changing.
"Because it's such a new industry, equipment and training and protocols are constantly changing as they see things that need to be improved or things that we can do better," she said. "For instance, we just purchased a new LifePak 35 cardiac monitor and those run around $50,000 apiece, but that has gone through many, many generations of monitors."
Emmons said emergency medical services try new equipment and if it doesn't work, first responders adapt and try other techniques.
"There's still so much room for advancement in emergency medicine and especially pre-hospital medicine," she said. "We've just been fortunate to be part of this first 50 years to kind of see it grow."
"I do not know how many volunteer departments there are still in the United States, but with communities like ours - rural communities - we can't afford to have to pay full-time people," she continued. "It's just very, very difficult these days to maintain that in the small communities, so we've been very fortunate to have people (who) are willing to volunteer their time and then a community that supports us financially in that way. We have people on our squad whose parents are squad members."
On average, the squad receives 350 calls a year; it often responds to five calls in a day but then can go a week without any calls. It responds to a lot of lift assist calls, meaning people call when they have fallen and can't get up.
"That's something else that has changed over time because years and years ago, people only called for an ambulance for life-threatening emergencies," Emmons said, "Now, we respond to a lot of things that maybe aren't necessarily emergent. We do a lot of lift assist, which we are more than happy to do. We're happy to help out members of our community in that way, but because we live in a rural area, we don't have a lot of traumatic events like shootings and stabbings. What we would have are traumatic injuries from farm equipment (and) industrial equipment. We still see our share of traumas - they're just may be a little different than what you might see in a big city."
First responders work to extract passengers during a mock crash.
Although the squad and the fire department are separate, they train together.
"We train together and because we have so many of our EMS personnel are also firefighters, then we're kind of integrated through the back door that way," Emmons said.
Emmons said the fire department responds to all fire calls and car accidents. It's an automatic mutual aid in most counties if there's a structure fire and the ambulance is also paged out, meaning if the fire department responds to a structure fire, EMS responds to stand by on the scene in case a fireman goes down.
"We do rehab on the firemen when they have to go in to fight the fire," she said. "Also, if there's anyone (who was inside) the structure and needs to be transported or needs medical attention, we're there for that."
Because the squad is in a rural village, it doesn't receive as much real life practice and has to work sometimes overtime to keep up with the bigger departments. That means community funding is crucial.
"Even in Celina and St. Marys … they have enough of a run volume that they're getting a lot of practice in real life," she said. "We don't have that kind of run volume, but we - volunteer paramedics, EMTs - are expected to provide the same level of care as the EMS personnel in a paid department. We have to make up the difference by training. That's important for people to know, because a lot of the financial support that we receive from our community when we are doing fundraisers or anything like that goes towards our training and equipment."
To learn more and to join the squad in celebrating 50 years of service, the public is invited to a New Bremen EMS open house 1-4 p.m. June 29 at 317 N. Walnut St., New Bremen. Residents can ask questions and see equipment up close and personal.
In other village council business Monday night, councilors heard first reading of a resolution to award Buehler Asphalt Paving Inc. of St. Marys a $402,565 bid to pave Herman and Pearl streets.
There were three other bids, including The Shelly Company, Findlay, $435,656; Barrett Paving Materials Inc., Franklin, $408,000; and Wagner Paving Inc., Laura, $447,715.50.
The village received a $282,000 OPWC grant and the local share will make up the difference.
Allyson Pape was recognized for receiving the American Municipal Power's Richard H. Gorsuch Scholarship.
The next council meeting is at 6:30 p.m. June 23 at the village hall.
