Topic: new rules for emergency response

Changing rules for emergency response

By Christine Anne Piesyk | October 24, 2007 |

“…dedicated to the best possible response to all emergency calls in the city of Clarksville. We strive to provide top-flight customer service to all aspects of our mission through our fire suppression activities, medical assist responses, daily and annual training, fire prevention inspections and public fire education programs, fire investigations, safety practices, and vehicle maintenance procedures.”

– Clarksville Fire Rescue

Debra had allergies. To everything. The list of foods she could eat was a single page. Two brief columns of edibles that would not kill her. She carried a stash of epi-pens — in the kitchen, in the bedroom, in the car. Her reactions happened fast. Shortness of breath, then unconsciousness. On one hair-rising night, a night when I just stopped by for a moment and found her door open, her beloved house cats loose in the hall and her body on the floor gasping for air, though I didn’t know she was a step away from death. I jabbed her with an epi-pen even as I dialed 9-1-1, which dispatched a crew from a point just a minute away. Four days later Debra was released from the hospital, until her next crisis. According to reports, her conditions were “allergic reaction” and “shortness of breath.” According to the Emergency Room doctors, she was lucky to have survived at all.

Who says shortness of breath or an allergic reaction are not a medical emergency worthy of the fastest response, including response by Clarksville Fire and Rescue? Or that it can wait for a county service to respond? The rapid response of a neighborhood fire and rescue team saved Debra’s life more than once.

Strokes can paralyze, kill, and result in brain damage; early response to and treatment for stroke is critical. Minutes make a difference.

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