To the editor:

911 Dispatcher: “911, what is the location of your emergency?”

Caller: “1857 387th Street”

911 Dispatcher: “OK, what’s going on there?”

Caller: “I just found my mom. She’s not conscious. I can tell if she’s breathing …”

And so, a family’s normal daily life is instantly turned upside down. Is my mom alive? How will my kids find out? Will my mom be OK? Are we going to the hospital? Will she make it to the hospital? Oh God, who will help me?

Dozens of questions flash through the mind. The next few minutes will seem like hours.

Emergency personnel, many of them volunteers, are instantly notified by a digital verbal page from the 911 dispatcher. Also, a text and email are sent, along with an Emergency Phone App that the county (Hamilton, in this case) subscribes to (which) notifies the appropriate agencies.

As the agency prepares for departure to the scene, the dispatcher continues to gather vital information that includes, but is not limited to, health history, medications and existing conditions. During the conversation the dispatcher tries to comfort the caller while monitoring changes in the patient and or caller.

Within minutes the emergency team is now enroute to the scene; the dispatcher shares the vitals with them. This gives them an assessment of the situation prior to arrival on scene.

Once on scene, the responding team assesses the patient/patients using preset protocol to determine the best way to proceed. Depending on the situation, the responding team may make a request for assistance from another provider, which is called a tier. Or they may call for an air ambulance to a regional medical center, or worse, a call to the medical examiner.

Previous to this call, all Hamilton County Emergency personnel have received thousands of hours training annually.

Every day in Hamilton County, dozens of calls like this are received and acted upon, some quite minor and some life-threatening.

The people of Hamilton County deserve the best available emergency services, no one questions that.

Those who give hours of their time to train and serve others deserve nothing but the best equipment.

Yet, the current way to raise money for emergency equipment is bake sales, fundraisers, partial insurance and Medicare reimbursements.

There is a public measure on the November 5th ballot to help support emergency services in Hamilton County. Our emergency providers and residents deserve the best emergency response equipment available.

Rick Young

Jewell