Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / Sept. 3, 1987, edition 1 / Page 50
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r Page 14—Supplement to The Brunsvick Beacon. September October 1987 Dedication Is Rescue Workers' Middle Name STAFF PHOTO 8V MARJORIE MEGIVERN' BARBARA RUBY, CHIEF of the Calabash rescue squad, packs a “jump and go bag" for EMTs to use on a house call. SHALLOTTE CLEANERS DOWNTOWN SHALLOTTE*754-4435«MON —FRI 7-6, SAT 8-1 ALLEN & ROBERTA EDWARDS, OWNERS ' • Drapery cleaning • Expert alterations • Same day service • Laundry service • Wedding dress care Quality Results! (Continued From Page 12) Labor comes cheap in volunteer rp.sciip squads. These working men and women (a minority are retirees) train, put in hours of labor at the .squad building and on calls, attend meetings, and do fund-raising chores as well. The "blood and guts” part of the job. as Ruby puts it. is only part of the story. "There’s all kinds of work that needs doing," she said, "like dispatching, mowing the lawn, main taining the building, raising money.” Money and personnel are always in short supply, partly because re quired equipment is tremendously expensive. The new ambulance, equipped with just one stretcher, cost about $4:1,000. simple cervical col lar. (and they use many i is $17, fill ing an oxygen tank costs $100, and everj- stretcher has a price tag of around $1100. There is no price tag on the com mitment of EMT’s. "Tliere's .not enough bodies to do the job,” Ruby said, “but the same people offer over and over, and when we have a bad ac cident, I don’t know where they come from, but they come.” Her squad is composed of 21 women and six men, about 70 percent of them transplants from outside the state. They take calls over an area that reaches from the South Carolina line to north of Grissettown, and the edge of Longwood to the beach at Sunset Beach. Victims of accidents or other emergencies are rushed to one of five hospitals, whichever is closest, in cluding Brunswick, New Hanover and Cape Fear in Wilmington, Grand Strand in Myrtle Beach, or Dosher in Southport. With crucial needs arising over .such a large aroa. Ruby said her pet peeve is “people expecting us to be a taxi . . . they don’t know we’re an emergency unit.” Among their more frivolous calls was was one from a man who’d run out of cigarettes, but they’re often a.sked to tran.sport peo ple to appointments with their doc tors. When asked what it takes to be an E.MT. Riedinger quickly answered, "Stupidity.” and Ruby added. ".And to be a chief. . . insanity!” Specifically, the designation is earned through 105 hours of training. 12 hours in a hospital emergency room, and many hours of study. Pro spective volunteers must be at least 18 years old. U.S. citizens, of good moral character, and have a doctor’s certification of physical capability. Despite their complaints and fi ustration. Ruby and Riedinger. like their colleagues, obviously feel deep ly about the service they perform. "When you see someone with car- ditj; arrest come around on the wa\ to the hospital with your help, it's a great satisfaction,” Ruby said. "And the best thing about this." she added, "is the people 1 work with, the most compa.ssionatc. dedicated people in the world.” Unique Gifts*Gourmet Foods*Imports Ice Cream*Candy*Fruit*Nuts Ask about our fruit basket service! HOLDEN BEACH. BESIDE ALAN HOLDEN REALTY 842-5678 • PHYLLIS STOKES. OWNER iU987 THE 8RUNSWICK BEACON Homes From $49,900 Lake Lots Residential Lots Commercial Property Pati Ix'wellyn, Broker Mary C. Allen. Broker realtor Traders Village, Calabash NKIlm * WKK.KKNI>.S: 5,M«0 „r 57^1
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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Sept. 3, 1987, edition 1
50
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