Lebanon Fire and EMS Department Calls on Milton for Mutual Aid in First Missed Call for Newly Combined Department.

Sometimes things happen that are beyond our control.
That seems to be the case for a staffed EMT and her staffed driver in the botched response to a West Lebanon call for a seizure patient on Thursday, August 17, 2015.
The Lebanon EMT and her Certified Driver, were in the middle of their scheduled shift at the Lebanon Fire and EMS Station, when Lebanon's Deputy Chief told the pair to leave their shift and take the station's trash to the Lebanon Transfer Station.
Even though the pair are paid to stay put at the station, the Deputy Chief's decision was made to send them away from their post, all the way to the other side of town, to dispose of the trash.
While the two paid Department members on duty were unloading station trash at the Transfer Station, a call came in for an address in West Lebanon for a seizure patient. Hearing the call and knowing she was further from the station than could warrant a proper response, the EMT on duty made the correct decision and called in to dispatch and had them reroute the call to our Mutual Aid responders in Milton, NH.
Milton responded immediately to the call and rendered medical aid to the patient. Lebanon's responders did also respond to the call, however, Milton had the patient loaded into the ambulance and ready to roll as transport to Frisbie Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NH.
In a written response from Lebanon Fire and EMS Chief Daniel Meehan, he stated that this call was one of the growth and change events that will serve to better shape the Lebanon Fire and EMS Department, and that in the future, staffed responders will not be asked to leave the station for any reason. He took a moment to thank Chief Marique of Milton, NH for his department's speedy answer to Lebanon's Mutual Aid call.  Meehan was also sure to add that this call was not the fault of EMT or Driver, and that he's viewing this call as a learning and teaching experience for the newly combined department.

2 Rescue Calls and a DART Flight Fill Friday Evening with Sirens and Helicopter Blades.

Saturday evening began for Lebanon Fire and EMS Captain Natasha Kinney and Firefighter / Driver Joe Perron at 4:20 pm with a call to Keay Road in Berwick for a Mutual Aid call for a swimming pool diving accident where a juvenile injured his shoulder.
Berwick, who does not operate their own ambulance service, relies, instead on American Ambulance Service, with home offices in Kittery, Maine and base in Somersworth, NH, for their ambulance services, but American was not available to answer the call.
Kinney and Perron left Berwick with their patient and transported to Southern Maine Health Center (formerly Goodall Hospital) in Sanford.
While Lebanon Rescue 2 was busy on the Berwick call, a second call came in at 5:05 pm for an ATV into a tree on Indian Lake Drive in Lebanon. Chief Meehan and EMT Rudnicki answered from the on-call status, arriving in only a matter of minutes, to find a young teenaged juvenile laying next to a dirt bike in a ditch with multiple traumatic leg injuries.
Mutual Aid calls were made immediately while Lebanon was responding, to Frisbie EMS paramedics and Milton Fire and Rescue due to the nature of the call.
Rudnicki, was first on the scene and quickly committed to patient care until paramedics arrived.
DART (Dartmouth Hitchcock Advanced Response Team) was ordered by dispatch upon hearing of the extreme nature of the injuries and arrangements were made for the New Hampshire  based helicopter to land at Sky Dive New England's airfield on Upper Guinea Road.
Lebanon Ambulance 2, with Kinney and Perron had completed their call in Sanford and rushed to the scene.

Lebanon personnel departed to Sky Dive New England to be sure the landing site was clear for the DART helicopter to land.

Due to the patient's extreme traumatic injuries, a lot of help was needed to move them from the ditch to the Frisbie ambulance with as little patient movement as possible. Everyone pitched in to help and the patient began the journey across Lebanon, with the Frisbie ambulance only able to travel at approximately 20 mph to try and avoid the possibility of jarring the patient during travel.
By 6:00 pm all units had cleared the scene and had headed toward Sky Dive New England. Frisbie's ambulance and paramedics transported the patient.
By 6:29 pm, the patient had been loaded into the DART helicopter and was on his way to Maine Medical Center on Portland, Maine.

 

We would once again like to extend our gratitude to Frisbie EMS, Milton New Hampshire Fire and Rescue, and the DART folks of Dartmouth Hitchcock Hospital and to our own Lebanon Fire and EMS first responders for answering the call when people are in need of emergency services.

GREAT job on Mutual Aid on both fronts tonight, with a call for Lebanon to answer Mutual Aid quickly responded to by Lebanon responders, and then our own call to Frisbie, Milton, and the DART copter, with perfect response and a speedy transfer to Portland. Lebanon Responders, Chief Daniel Meehan, Windy Rudnicki, Natasha Kinney, Jessica Kelly, Joe Perron, and Brian O'Mearlaigh.

Our best wishes to both patients for a quick and full recovery.