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Over the years, a big part of this writer’s job at The News-Banner has been to cover accidents, fires and other happenings that have involved Wells County’s emergency personnel — police, paramedics, fire-rescue crews, dispatchers and others.
While the outcomes of some of the stories we have to report are not always positive, the day-to-day interaction with police, fire and EMS crews has been and still is one of the best parts of being a reporter here. This interaction has led to a deep sense of respect and admiration for the people who save lives and keep us safe every day.
We often see emergency crews work in less-than-ideal situations, whether it be in extreme temperatures, severe weather conditions or any number of imaginable (and often unimaginable) situations.
They do their jobs and they do them well because there exists between Wells County’s emergency personnel an uncanny synergy that many communities cannot boast. These men and women, however, seldom receive the public recognition they truly deserve, nor do they seek it.
This is especially true for Wells County EMS crews, as HIPAA laws designed to protect the privacy of patient information prohibit them from discussing the specifics of their jobs. We in the media rarely recognize their efforts, not because we are unaware of them, but often because we know they cannot speak to us because of privacy laws.
At the end of September, however, Wells County EMS was in the spotlight not only here but across the state. Indiana’s Emergency Medical Services Commission honored Wells County EMS with the 2008 Paramedic Provider of the Year. The prestigious award recognizes Wells County EMS for its contributions to patients and employees.
With four stations around the county, 41 employees (including 21 paramedics) and five ambulances, these men and women responded to 3,016 emergencies last year, which averages out to more than eight runs each day.
But their work in the community extends far beyond responding to 911 calls. Wells County EMS officials created a program to put Automatic External Defibrillators in city and county police vehicles to give officers the tools they need to save a life in case they arrive to an emergency scene before paramedics. Police have saved lives because of the AED program Wells County EMS implemented here.
Its for all of these reasons and more that Wells County EMS personnel have earned and deserve a big pat on the back from us. We commend them for a job well done and thank them for always looking ahead to make Wells County a safer place to live.
But the 2008 Paramedic Provider of the Year award is not the only recognition Wells County’s EMS has earned recently. In 2006, EMS personnel here (along with Ossian Fire-Rescue crews) received the Otis Bowen Heroic Rescue Award at the 27th Annual Emergency Response Conference. They earned this award for their efforts following a rescue that I will never forget because I witnessed it.
A motorist had crashed into a tree on Wells County Road 1050N in Jefferson Township. Rescuers didn’t know just how strange and life-threatening this accident would be until then-Ossian Fire Chief Kent Gilbert arrived a few minutes later. (Gilbert was at his home less than 3 miles away when he responded.)
I was just turning onto Ind. 116 west when I heard Gilbert yell into his radio that he was being attacked and stung by bees as he tried to help the trapped teenage driver.
A Norwell High School girl had crashed her sports-utility vehicle into a tree’s hollow stump that contained a large bee’s nest. Once downed, millions of angry, swarming bees began hovering around the crash site and stinging everyone while slowing rescue efforts.
Firefighters, police and paramedics were stung multiple times; the teen who crashed estimates the bees stung her 500 times; and a woman who lives just west of the accident tried to help after she heard the impact but was stung multiple times and succumbed to the stings. I was lucky that day, as the bees only stung me twice in the forehead.
No one at the scene, including even the most experienced rescue worker, had ever seen an accident scene like what was unfolding.
“This has to be one of the worst ones that I’ve ever seen because it was something I’ve never encountered before,” Gilbert recalled a few hours after being treated and released from Lutheran Hospital that sweltering August afternoon.
For nearly an hour as I swatted away bees, I watched Ossian firefighters, Wells County EMS crews, Ossian police, Wells County police, Indiana State Police and Lutheran Air flight paramedics battle the bees and oppressive heat and humidity as they worked to free the trapped Norwell teen.
Paramedic Andy Stimpson even remained inside the SUV with the girl until rescuers could free her. He stayed with his patient throughout the duration by flying onboard Lutheran Air as she was airlifted to a Fort Wayne hospital. (The Lutheran Air paramedic had been injured by multiple bee stings.)
The synergy between the various emergency services showed just how well trained and prepared our county’s rescuer workers are, even when they are faced with a life-threatening situation no one had ever imagined, let alone trained for.
Millions of swarming, angry bees tested the system and our rescuers that 90-degree, humid August afternoon, but there’ s no doubt that they passed with flying colors.
We could write several more inches about the heroic actions of Wells County EMS personnel, but the end message would be the same: Thank you for everything you do and congratulations on earning a much-deserved state award.
Be sure to congratulate a paramedic or other Wells County EMS employee the next time you see one. They work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, so they’re around and we’re beyond appreciate for that.
by JUSTIN PEEPER
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