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Pawnee Chief, Pawnee Co., OK 1983 - 1992
by Rita
Buford [email protected]
With Permission From D. Jo Ferguson, Publisher Of Pawnee Chief
December 17, 1987 - Pawnee Chief
Ambulance Available
The town of Pawnee should be proud of its Ambulance service. Over the years
it has grown and developed to meet the needs of our town and anyone who is
unfortunately in need of emergency medical care.
The ambulance service is employed and mostly funded by the City as a part
of the Fire Department. Until 1968 it was part of Poteet Funeral Home. The
Poteets were the last in this area to follow the trend and the mayor agreed
to take it over for the city. Ambulances and equipment were sparse at this
time, but Mr. POTEET had the top equipment available. The attendants
and volunteers had little training then. The Highway Patrol gave a basic
self-help course, which sufficed until 1975. The the state started making
rules and guidelines to help improve and regulate the industry. Oklahoma
Trauma and Research Center in Tulsa began offering Emergency Medical Training
courses.
Ambulance drivers are now called First Responders. They are required to have
a number of hours in Basic Life Support like Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
(CPR) and Infant Delivery. Every ambulance carries a responder and 1 or 2
EMT's aboard. If the call is an Emergency than a Responder and 2 EMT's go
out. The EMT's receive training through the Vo-Techs of the Oklahoma Fire
Service Training in Stillwater. They receive 125 hours or more in training
to handle all possible types of medical emergencies. These standards must
be met to receive licensing from the Oklahoma Health Department.
The Pawnee Ambulance Service now has 6 responders and 6 EMT's. There are
only 4 regularly salaried employees. They are paid through the Fire Department.
The others are volunteer staff members who are paid by the ambulance runs
they make. Each member of the service has times when they are scheduled to
be on call, but being a part of the ambulance gang usually means you are
on call all the time and at anytime. Pagers are carried so that the Department
can contact any member at any time.
A call to 762-3336 may be answered by Frank REED, who became a volunteer
in 1963. His 24 years of experience helps in may ways. He has seen the state
set up the rules, change the regulations, mandate the qualifications and
update the system. He helps with the physical operation, mans the phone and
tries to figure out how much money will be budgeted for the next fiscal
year.
Together with the city officials the ambulance system is working in and for
Pawnee.
Pawnee Municipal Hospital would like to thank Frank REED, Billy
RILEY, Kevein RADLEY, Thelma RODGERS, Sonny TULL,
Don SPEICHER and Joe ALLENBAUGH for the great job they are
doing for the community.
Thanks to James NOVOTNY who works for the Fire Department but pitches
in part-time when help is needed.
If you have been helped by these brave people, why not write them and tell
them how you appreciate them being available and caring enough for Pawnee
that they would train for this challenge. Write: Information Please, Box
345, Pawnee, Oklahoma 74058. Show you Care!
September 1999: Submitted by Thelma Rodger's daughter, Rita BUFORD. My sons can attest to the fact that their grandmother is on call. Seems each time they visit Pawnee and go out for lunch or dinner, her pager goes off and she is off to the fire station. She has been an EMT in Pawnee since 1983 and thoroughly enjoys her calling. Mom is now 63 years old. [email protected]
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