GOOD MORNING LEBANON TRUTH SEEKERS.......
Sometimes I feel like telling the truth about things in this town is like stepping into a battleground.
There is so much misinformation to wade through JUST to set things straight.
While you and I slept this morning, your Lebanon EMS team were hard at work.
The first call came in at 4:07 am, for a complaint of "Difficulty Breathing", and our EMTs Sara and Donna were RIGHT on with their response.
While the department was not scheduled to begin paid staffing until 6 am, both EMTs were scheduled to cover the overnight shift from home.
Sara responded to the scene directly from her home, while Donna went to the station and retrieved Ambulance 2, meeting Sara on scene.
There was a decision made for a paramedic intercept call put in to Frisbie Hospital. Because of the sensitivity of patient information, and HIPAA laws, we are not privy as to why that call was made, and to be honest, it's really none of our business.
This was a long time-call. Sometimes things at a scene are not handled in the slam-bam-throw 'em-in-the-rig style of EMS Service that "other" pages seem to be asking for. Patient care is crucial and is being considered first and foremost by our Fire and EMS Department.
Because I was not on the scene, I am not going to question what the team was doing there, or how long they spent doing it. I only know they were there when a Lebanon resident needed help, and after assessing the situation, they decided they needed some help from higher level medical professional, and they called for Frisbie Paramdics to attend.
As for how long it took to get that patient to the hospital. I wasn't aware there was a timeline in moving an injured patient. The patient must be stabilized, and with a call for "Difficulty Breathing" it could be anything from congestion due to cold, to asthma attack, to congestive heart failure to cardiac arrest that could result in severe medical circumstances if you just throw the patient over your shoulder cave-man style and toss them onto an ambulance stretcher.
Since the 15 anonymous volunteers from the "Command Central" page can only listen to the scanner, the same as you or I can, I can't possibly imagine how they would second guess the medical decisions made for the benefit of any patient by an EMT or Paramedic on the scene.
The second call, blasted on the internet by our 15 anonymous esteemed colleagues, states that no one answered the call for Lebanon, and that 13 minutes prior to a paid staffing shift, the call went unanswered and was referred to Sanford for Mutual Aid.
Sara and Donna were already out with Ambulance 2, on the earlier "Difficulty Breathing" call that was apparently quite involved, and wound up requiring transport to Frisbie Hospital with paramedic intercept.
The second call came in at 5:41. That is actually 19 minutes prior to a scheduled staffed shift, not 13 as reported. It's simple math, actually, done at basic first grade level subtraction. Natasha, who is an Advanced Level EMT, and a trained Emergency Response Driver were on their way to the station to begin their scheduled shift.
Sanford toned once for the Lebanon EMS, however, due to a miscommunication, Sandford Central Dispatch still believed that Ambulance 1 was "out of service" and therefore, knowing that Sara and Donna were still out with Ambulance 2 on their earlier call, Central Dispatch toned Sanford Rescue only shortly after the first tone for the "Hip Pain" call, and Sanford Ambulance, responded to the Mutual Aid call in the way that Mutual Aid responses are supposed to happen. GREAT job by Sanford, by the way! Thanks to them for GREAT Mutual Aid coverage!!
Lebanon residents, for the 15 anonymous volunteers who run the "Command Central" page to listen to a scanner and try to second guess the professionals who are at the scene of an injury, accident or illness is just insanity.
I would respectfully submit this answer to the 4 people who messaged my phone this morning to tell me what Command Central was posting and asking why things were happening the way they were at the scene.
LET THE FIRE AND AMBULANCE CREWS AND CHIEF MEEHAN DO THEIR JOBS.
While the Command Central page feels the need to monitor each and every call that comes across the scanner, they are NOT EMS personnel. No matter what happens, they like to pretend that they are on the scene and can see what is happening. Of course, what is happening there on the scene is never being handled correctly, according to them. They are not there. They do not know. They have no idea what is happening or what the patient's particular issues are.
In my conversation with the Chief and EMS professionals this morning, I'm now aware that there have been over 30 calls to EMS in the 10 days that they have been on staffing calls. I would like to call your attention to the fact that "Command Central" is only highlighting those calls that they feel they can pick apart, even when they have no privileged information to do so.
I would also like to call attention to the fact that none of the patients ever respond that they have had a negative experience with the response or care they have received from the Lebanon EMS professionals.
There certainly are times when the combined department of FIRE and EMS staffs the station with an EMT and a trained driver through the FIRE personnel. However, you can rest assured that even your drivers are CPR and First Responder certified.
There certainly are times when it takes longer than average response times to assess a patient, give them emergency treatment, and get them moved to a hospital. And there are times when circumstances call for more careful treatment of a patient due to issues you or I or or the 15 anonymous EMS stalkers have privileged patient information that we have no access to.
Your Lebanon Fire and EMS Chief, Dan Meehan is working to your best advantage, as are each and every one of the Lebanon Fire and Rescue employees and volunteers. If they are called to your home for an emergency, you will be their first priority. If another call comes in that sounds like it could be more exciting, they will not leave you to attend the second call. That is what Mutual Aid is for, and our Mutual Aid communities have Lebanon's back on all Mutual Aid calls.
I would ask today, that if you see "Command Central" making claims of inadequacy during a Rescue call, that you not immediately message my phone asking if the claims of the 15 anonymous volunteers are TRUE, but that you instead, comment on THAT page and ask them if they are on scene, if they know the medical circumstances of the call, if they are being given inside information that points to inadequacy of our EMTs or professionally trained department members, because I respectfully submit to you that they have no way to know what is happening on scene in the realm of individual patient care and treatment, and neither do we.
While some former Lebanon Rescue staff lived for the adrenaline of screaming down Lebanon's roadways, 90 miles per hour, lights and sirens blaring, and taking a moment or two to snap selfies, smiling for the world to see, it's not true of all EMS professionals. Most are far more concerned with patient care and privacy than in being featured on the front page of the newspapers each day.
To question each and every call, to try and figure out what happened in the privacy of someone's home while they are having a medical emergency, to second guess the decisions of EMS or Fire personnel who are trained to care for patients on an emergency basis....... well, it's exhausting, when every complaint by Command Central is only a cry of "Wolf" and each call is actually handled in the most professional manner possible.
These condemnations by the Command Central page are only an attempt to turn you away from being thankful and supportive for all that our Fire and EMS services do for our town.
Enjoy your Saturday, Lebanon residents.
Lebanon Fire and EMS Department is on duty and ready to respond.
