EMS Messenger, Volume 10, Issue 1, January 1989 Page: 7
28 p. : ill.View a full description of this periodical.
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Seminole crew members (left to right) Hack McCoy, Toni Rocha. Beverly Gressett, MonikaRoberts,
Gary Roberts, Joe Hunter, and Bryan Taylor work hard to keep the community aware of EMS.On this particular day, the on-duty crew was Beverly
Gressett and volunteer Toni Rocha, an EMT. And this is
what makes Seminole EMS outstanding - the use of
both paid and volunteer staff to provide emergency
medical services to the community and county.
Members of Seminole Volunteer EMS Associaticn fill in
for full-time paid personnel and do basic life support
transfers. The volunteers also do fundraising w th
carwashes, dances and softball tournaments. The
association purchased a defibrillator, rhythm similatcr
for paramedic training, and med-channel radio. Here the
line between volunteer and paid staff blurs, because :he
med-channel radio was actually purchased out of the
pockets of the volunteers and paid EMS staff.
The hospital board recently approved the purchase of a
base station for the hospital, and the EMS staff agreed
to do the labor to install the radio and antenna. Hack
McCoy, besides being deputy director, is the EMS
communications specialist, and he will do inservice
training for hospital staff once the base station is in-
stalled. "Every time EMS brings in a new piece o-
equipment, we inservice the hospital personnel." said
Monika Roberts.
About 400 runs are made each year by Seminole EMS,
and about 25% of those are cardiac calls on elderly
patients. The service area includes Seminole and most
of Gaines County, an area of 1,400 square milesSeagraves EMS serves the upper portion of the county.
Seminole's population is 6,200; the Gaines county
population is 13,900.
One of the measurements of an EMS organization's
management is its col action rate. The collection rate
also serves as a kind of barometer of public support.
Seminole EMS enjoys a 90% collection rate.
Seminole's public support is no accident. These EMS
professionals, paid and volunteer, work at it.
Morning Call is one of Seminole EMS' most successful
programs. For four years at 9 o'clock every morning they
have called many of the community's elderly citizens
who live alone and who have some medical problems,
just to make sure that everything is okay. Before starting
a person on Morning Call, one of the EMS staft visits
with :he senior citizen Io 9ill out an information sheet that
lists health problems, medications, schedule of their
personal activities that mght take them away from
home, and other information that emergency services
might need.
Typical calls? Joe Hunger and Bryan Taylor, who are
pretty fair-sized guys, went over one morning to check
on a woman who did not answer her Morning Call. When
they found her locked i her bathroom, they had to call
Monika Roberts to climb in the window. Another time,
they called a couple who both have medical problems7
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Texas. Department of Health. Bureau of Emergency Management. EMS Messenger, Volume 10, Issue 1, January 1989, periodical, January 1989; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1507871/m1/7/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.