Saving lives: Foundation grant helps local ambulance company buy critical ventilators
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A ventilator is displayed at Goodwill Hose Ambulance Assn. in Flemington. It is a medical machine that moves air in and out of your lungs when you cannot breathe well on your own. It pumps oxygen-rich air into the body and helps remove carbon dioxide, acting as life support during critical illness, surgery, or severe injury.
FLEMINGTON -- The air we breathe.
Healthy people might take that air -- and the ability to breathe it -- for granted.
People with respiratory illnesses do not.
Caregivers certainly don't.
That's why Goodwill Hose Co. Ambulance Association purchased two, state-of-the-art ventilators, thanks, in part, to a $12,500 grant from the Clinton County Community Foundation.
Also pitching in to help pay for the devices was Grugan Township using Act 13 gas drilling money, according to Grugan Supervisor Richard "Dick" Grenell.
Grenell and fellow Grugan Supervisors J. Craig Conti and Eric Williamson also provided Act 13 funding to other critical care providers in the county this year.
Overall and including equipment necessary to operate the ventilators, the devices cost about $20,000, said Kim Shainline, Goodwill's chief of operations and a paramedic herself.
Did you know that respiratory-breathing difficulties are among the top three calls for an ambulance in Clinton County?
It is -- topped only by traffic accidents and fall victims.
As area emergency rooms can attest, parainfluenza and respiratory adenoviruses are showing elevated incidents nationally despite overall respiratory illnesses generally remaining low across the country, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Goodwill Hose Ambulance's paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) are responding to calls ranging from simple mild asthma flare-ups to complete respiratory failure caused by chronic medical problems like COPD/CHF or traumatic injuries, Shainline explained.
"The ventilators that we were able to purchase allow us to not only manage a patient who is no longer able to breathe on their own, but we will now have the capability to provide BiPAP (BiLevel Positive Airway Pressure), which is a non-invasive breathing assistance that help patients with severe breathing emergencies," she explained. "It is more comfortable than traditional CPAP. With integrating these pieces of state-of-the-art equipment into our care, we are afforded the capability to continue to meet our Mission to the community."
Goodwill Hose Ambulance Association is busy.
Very, very busy.
The company runs approximately 2,000 calls per year, which averages 160 calls per month.
Handling that call volume is a team of 24 -- half paramedics and half EMTs.
"We are professionally staffed with Paramedics, Pre-Hospital RN's, Advanced EMTs and EMTs. We also have a strong volunteer base that helps us with community outreach," Shainline explained.
"We have three ambulances and a medic responder that we staff for 911 calls and various sporting events that include Clinton County Speedway, Central Mountain Youth Football, Central Mountain High School and Penn State University," she continued.
"Our primary run area covers nine municipalities, including Flemington, Mill Hall and Loganton boroughs; Bald Eagle, Lamar, Porter, Greene and Logan townships and the east side of Walker Township in Centre County," Shainline explained. "We also provide primary Advanced Life Support services to Beech Creek Borough, along with Beech Creek, Liberty and Curtin townships. Those areas encompass 308 square miles in total."
Goodwill Hose Ambulance is a critical part of response teams within Clinton County.
"Due to the increasing demand on the 911 system, we frequently find ourselves all over Clinton County as a mutual aid partner when the other EMS in our county are busy," Shainline said.
Goodwill Hose Ambulance does outreach, too.
"We have our popular Teddy Bear Clinic that is geared towards getting children interested in first aid and safety. We provide CPR classes for many of our local fire departments. At the beginning of this year, we held an EMR (emergency medical responder) class to help bolster fire departments with medical providers within Clinton County," Shainline said.
To learn how you can support a cause, service or program you care about, contact the Foundation at 570-220-1038; send an email to cccf@clintoncountyfoundation.org, or for more information, visit www.clintoncountyfoundation.org.