Piute County officials are in fear of losing the emergency medical technician program, especially important to such a sparsely populated county with a relatively large geographic area.
The program is desperately in need of new people to enroll and be trained as EMTs to serve the population of about 1,600, according to Brenda Robinson, a nine-year member of the group. "Unless we get some response from the people of Piute County, all eight EMTs are going to retire from the program," she said.Too much stress for such a small number of members is the culprit that can be blamed for the threats to quit the organization. "We are all just plain burned out and we are not getting any help," Robinson said.
There are no EMTs in the county seat at Junction, only two in Circleville, and three in each of the towns of Kingston and Marysvale.
Two ambulances make emergency runs to hospitals in Panguitch and Richfield. Having EMTs on board is a medical must. Longer runs are completed by more specialized units after Piute County patients arrive at either of the two area hospitals.
Robinson noted that one EMT in Circleville is away from town working most every day and that both are employed, a situation that is typical among other communities where EMTs live.
Without more trained members, the outlook is gloom for the medical needs of residents in Piute County - loss of the ambulances and the entire emergency medical program. They would have to rely on ambulances from Monroe, Sevier County, or from Panguitch. Distances would vary, depending on the area in which a patient lives, but it would be at least 40 miles to the closest town in Piute County from either direction.
Robinson said ambulance crew members in Piute County spend four to six hours on the runs to Richfield and Panguitch.
"We love the program and are willing to work," Robinson declared. "But our problem is that with all of us holding down full-time jobs, and some away from the county, there just aren't' enough hours in a day to handle that and have any kind of home life."
She urged county residents to consider getting involved before the dearth of EMTs forces the program to be abandoned.
County Commissioner Joan Anderson, who, with her husband, is an EMT in Marysvale, said the county should have at least 20 EMTs, 10 for each ambulance. "In that way, we could work around those who are employed." She especially urged housewives and people who have their own businesses to join.
While being a medical technician is a great service to the people, it also has benefits for the individual, Anderson said. "I have never had anything that has enhanced my life so much. Taking EMT training gives one confidence and can be a forerunner to a better education."
She noted that many of the county's EMTs have gone on to higher education and have excelled. A medical technician can also receive 12 hours of college credit for training in the program, which requires 120 hours of classroom work.
"I feel I was instrumental in saving the life of my mother and a son, and my husband has given the Heimlich maneuver twice to people who began choking while eating at a cafe," the commissioner said.
"We couldn't run our county without volunteers. I feel that if a person lives in a community and expects certain excellence and services, he or she should be a volunteer." She noted the county has 30 search and rescue volunteers who are trained as "first medical responders."
In addition to the EMT training that would be given to new volunteers, Anderson conducts two classes each year to teach emergency first aid, in January and May. She invited county residents to join those classes and urged them to consider joining the EMTs so that the needed medical service can continue.
Persons interested in joining the organization may call a county commissioner, an EMT or the county clerk's office. Commissioners are Afton Blood in Antimony, Linden Romine in Circleville and Anderson in Marysvale.