EMS volunteers: Taking care of family

The tones sound, and dispatch calls out the nature of an emergency and announces an address. It is the sign that there is someone in need of assistance. Volunteers jump into their vehicles and travel to the station. From there, they enter the necessary vehicle and safely race to the address given over the air waves.

For the men and women who volunteer their time to Emergency Medical Services (EMS), this is not an uncommon occurrence. There are a total of 38 volunteers in the Cathlamet department alone, and they are always looking for more.

“You don’t have to like fire to be a firefighter,” said Wally Wright, First Captain of the Cathlamet Fire Department. “There are a lot of jobs that don’t require going inside burning buildings.”

Fire fighting is only one aspect of being involved with EMS. There are more aid calls than fire calls.

“We are a mutual aid department, which means that if any of the departments in the county ask for help, we respond,” Wright said

A “tone out” is a series of tones broadcast on shortwave radio that alerts EMS personnel there is an emergency. Volunteers carry radios with them to be instantly notified in case there is a need for response. There is not someone on department premises at all times.

Radios don’t always work due to weather conditions, personnel location, or radio failure, so the volunteers rely on sirens for backup alarm notification. The siren will sound if there is a fire call or a second tone out is needed. If the call is critical, EMS staff or dispatch may request the siren be used.

The nature of the call will dictate the number of personnel required for a response. For a trauma call, two certified Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) are required, but often more will travel.

Personnel will often take as many as five EMT’s along on a call because not only do they not know the severity of the call, but location can be a factor. Other vehicles may be necessary for the call as well.

Because of a lack of certified people, first aid training is conducted to increase numbers for responses. Advanced first aid personnel—those not trained as a certified EMT IV techs or paramedics—will assist on calls. They will drive the rigs or do what they can to assist.

“They have become an essential part of our fire department,” paramedic Cindy Faubion, a 28 year veteran, said.

Training to be a volunteer with the department will depend on the area of interest—if the individual wants to do EMS, fire fighting or both. Entry level EMS will become advanced first aid after a 48 hour class.

“The way the bylaws are written; if you are going to be first aid only, you have to be an EMT. If you are going to be a firefighter and you want to go out on ambulance calls, you need to get your first aid certification, then you can go on ambulance as well,” Wright said.

To be first aid as an EMT or higher will take 110 hours of training, plus sponsorship by a fire department with a first aid division.

Ages of volunteers range in age from 18 to 62. In the Cathlamet Department, volunteers must be a minimum of 16, but that will vary agency to agency.

The duties of an EMT will vary depending on the nature of the call. En route to the call, personnel will anticipate what to expect when they arrive on scene. Once they arrive, they will do a patient assessment.

EMT staff will administer oxygen and prepare the patient for transport. Depending on the severity of the call, they will decide what services will be needed, i.e. IV or heart monitor, Faubion explained. From the information given by dispatch, personnel must anticipate what will happen.

“When the tones go off, your heart lurches. You never know if it’s going to be somebody that you really care about. In a small town, it is usually somebody you know,” she said.

There is a high burn out rate in the job of emergency response, Wright said. “That’s why some professionals only do it for 20 years.”

“It takes dedication, that’s for sure,” EMS Division Captain Beau Renfro added.

People will join the department for their own reasons. For Renfro, it was because he wanted to help people. He said it is what keeps him going.

“If what I do can help somebody, it helps the community keep continuing to be a community,” he said.

“This community is our family,” Wright said. “It’s what we do.”

Faubion added they want people to feel comfortable calling at any time.

“It’s no imposition," she said. "That’s why we are here.”