The Independent-News, Volume 118, Number 38, Walkerton, St. Joseph County, 4 February 1993 — Page 4

4

- THE INDEPENDENT NEWS - FEBRUARY 4. 1993

“Voice Os The People”

“in Response To A Ver? Concerned Citizen" I'm writing this letter to voice my opinion on two different letters. The first one I'm writing in regards to is a letter writte by Cheryl Rizek. to an FMT-D. It is my opinion, that Cheryl was only doing her job. She is trying to see to it that the bylaws that were written by the EMT's for the EMT's are being followed. I have to sa\. good job. Cheryl. These bylaws were written approximately four vears ago and have never been earned out. I feel it is about time they are being carried out. Now in response to a very concerned citizen. If you don't run a number of hours on the ambulance you will lose the skills you learned. If you get on the ambulance unsure of your skills you can very easily injure someone or even cause them to lose their life. How would you feel if it was your loved one being worked on by someone who only ran a few hours here and there and goofed up? I know I feel better knowing it was someone working back there, that was there often and knew how everything worked. I'm sorry if you don't want those of us who are ready, willing and able to come out and try to help you if you ever have a problem. For God knows we are still here. If you ever need help we will be there in minutes. We do not hold grudges. An EMT-D and Proud Os It Pam Vaughn “Know The Facta” In reading the Voice of the People section the last couple of weeks, it becomes apparent that it is not important to know the facts or have a knowledge of how an organization is run to voice possible harmful statements. in the first place, to point blame at Mrs. Rizek as though she were doing all this decision making on her own Is ludicrous. Walkerton has a Town Board that holds meetings in which all members discuss matters of importance and make decisions as a whole. Mrs. Rizek is board president and has the honor of signing letters coming from the town board. However, actions are shared by the entire board. Secondly, an organization (especially one as important as the EMTD) has to be conducted professionally and must follow their rules and regulations. When a person volunteers to be an EMT, they are made aware of these requirements. It would seem when a volunteer realizes they can no longer devote the time required, they would give way to someone who can devote the time. If a volunteer such as Ms. Williams really wants to help the Town and the EMTs, perhaps an inquiry with directors would disclose a different way in which she could benefit the community and organization. It is my understanding a volunteer wants to help the community they live in any way possible, not cause an uproar. Another Concerned Citizen “To AU Concerned” In response to the concerned citizen of Walkerton, here are some facts. When the new Walkerton E M S. was started, the people involved came up with and voted in a set of by-laws. One of these was Indiana Legislature TOLL FREE NUMBERS Senate 1-800-548-9517 House 1-800-382-9842

that you have to run at least 10 hours a week or 40 hours a month. The primary reason for this was the concern that if you have a certain amount of hours and/or runs, your skills might not be up to par. Another thing that was voted on was to use as a guideline for new EMT's or SMT's that take more than 30 days off the schedule. It was decided that in order to become a member of the service again you had to be on a probationary period. In reference to these rules, these three people were well aware of these rules and what it takes to remain a member of this service, these rules have been enforced on other people involved with this service. You say you know who runs on the service? Fact. Os the three people who received these letters, between them they only covered 366 hours total in the last six months. This is out of 13,140 hours covered. One had 88 hours in 6 months, one had 128 hours in 6 months and one had 150 hours in 6 months. I am not writing this letter to question anyone's ability as an EMT, I just thought this concerned citizen might check their facts before writing another letter. In closing 1 hope that if you really are a concerned citizen of this town, you will come to the Town board meetings and voice your opinion. It is real easy to sit back and write anonymous letters for the paper knowing you can’t be confronted with the facts face to face. God bless. Vern Hostetler EMT “Thank The Ambulance Service” I would like to thank these wonderful people on the Walkerton Ambulance. If it was not for them my grandson would have been born at home or in the car on the way to the hospital. As it was the baby was bom in the back of the ambulance. We are so grateful to these people because so much could have gone wrong, but thanks to these people my daughter and grandson are both doing just great. Thank you. Gloria Schalch and Family “Citizens Os Walkerton” My name is Bruce Wharton, 1 live in and work in the Town of Walkerton. I have been a lifetime resident, and I’m proud to say “Im from Walkerton”. I’m concerned that we may lose our Ambulance crews and have to call South Bend for help when we need it. I remember when my mother needed the ambulance service, and if she would have had to wait for South Bend she may not be here now. I don’t go to all the Town Board meetings, but I get to some of them and 1 think it’s time for more of the people to do the same. I think there is too much outside influence. As a home owner in Walkerton, we need and want our ambulance service. How can we expect anyone to move to our city or any factories or businesses to come to a town without an ambulance Service? A Very Concerned Citizen Bruce Wharton “We’re Sorry” We are sorry if anyone felt insulted by the letter our town lawyer composed to some of our ambulance personnel. It was not meant that way at all, it was just to get us all thinking of how valuable is the time we give to our community, not to make you want to quit our service but maybe to give a little more time. We are only trying to follow the by-laws that the ambulance committee wrote up and expected everyone to follow. 1 certainly hope that everyone knows that Cheryl Rizek was not the only one on the town board which consists of five members. Everybody thought the letter should be written

even though as the president of the Town Board, she was the only one to sign it. As an ex EMT who gave us seven years of community service, Cheryl certainly does not want us to lose our service nor does any of our other board members. We certainly hope that the Town will still support our ambulance people. We have excellent EMTs and drivers and the most up-to-date equipment and rigs around. We are very proud of everyone on our service. Thank you for your support. Elsie Heimer Lincoln Township Trustee “In Response To A Citizen’s Comments” I would like to voice my opinion in regards to the amublance service. I am sure thankful for having an ambulance in our town to call. Some towns aren’t that lucky. Rules are made to be kept, not to be broken. If the rules are broken, there is no reason to make the rules in the first place. I'm sure glad you weren't with the ambulance crew that needed every bit of attention that they could muster to save my life, oxygen, heart, diabetic, coma, etc. I feel you've got to much hate in you instead of love and would have let me die. With Warm Regards James Mercer “Also A Conerned Citizen” I would like to respond to the very concerned citizen in last week’s "Voice”. lam also a very concerned citizen in Walkerton. I have also been a very active EMT on WPL EMS since it was reorganized four years ago. As well as being an EMT, I also am in charge of doing the scheduling and keeping the records of th EMT and drivers hours as well as runs and reports. Therefore I am also very familiar with who runs on the ambulance, and for the benefit of those who are not, here is a list of the hours run in the last six months and the number of runs they have been on in the year of 1992. Vern Hochstetler ran 333 hours in the last six months and was on 30 runs in the last year. Richard Flaugher has been back with the service since November 1992, has run 286 hours in two months and was on 10 runs. Jack Henderson has run 623 hours in the last six months and been on 54 runs in the last year. Ernie Rollings ran 784 hours in the last six months and was on 41 runs in a year. Tammy Williams ran 150 hours in the last six months and was on 8 runs in a year. Karol Jackson ran 88 hours in the last six months and was on 7 runs. Robert Geruais is new, only been with the service since October, ran 497 hours in three months and was on 25 runs. John Small, Jr. ran 269 hours in six months and was on 41 runs in a year. Gayton Davis ran 332 hours in five months and was on 24 runs in the past year. Clayton resigned from the service November 1, 1992. Lynn Brownlee ran 584 hours in six months and was on 59 calls in the past year. Jean Brownlee ran 2,588 hours in six months and was on 176 runs in a year. Nancy Hockett ran 293 hours in six months was was on 26 runs in the past year. Jon Meyers ran 740 hours in six months and was on 28 runs in the past year. Janice Stoneburner was on medical leave for four of the last six months, ran 108 hours in two months and was on 33 runs in the past year. Randy Hoover took a leave of absence for the month of December. Randy ran 265 hours in five months and was on 17 runs in a year. Randy resigned at the end of December 1992. Robert C. Davis, Jr. was on leave two of the last six months, ran in four months 255 hours and was on 52 runs in the past year. Jeff Stonebumer ran 827 hours in the last six months and was on 58 runs in a year. Kitty Holland ran 128 hours in six

months and was on 9 calls in a year. Joyce Brownlee ran 407 hours in six months and was on 37 calls in the year. Pam Vaughan ran 625 hours in the last six months and was on 65 runs in the past year. Bill Miller ran 721 hours in the last six months and was on 75 runs in the last year. Cory Klinedinst, Brett Mollenhauer, Larry Dill, Ann Shortt, Teri Smith and Dale Swanson also assisted us this past year, but did not run as full time members. This is a complete list of the hours from July 1 through December 31, 1992 and the list that was submitted to the Town Board. Yes the loss of Randy Hoover and Gayton Davis is a sore one. They will be missed not only by the entire service, but by the whole community we serve. They are both excellent EMTs, also excellent drivers and were always willing to work where they were needed. But both Randy and Gayton assured me, when they turned in their radios, that they did not have a problem with anyone on the service or the way it was beino run T6<»v both stated they were just too busy with other things right now to run on the service. 1 also know Cheryl Rizek was an EMT on Walkerton EMS when it first started for seven years, until she suffered a heart attack and was forced to resign because of her health. I am sorry Concerned, that you don’t want Walkerton Ambulance called to your home ever. But in case of an emergency, and you should need an ambulance, if you change your mind give us a call. I assure you we will be there within minutes, offering the same professional help we offer everyone else. I hope I never have to call an ambulance to my home, but if I do 1 thank God Walkerton Ambulance is available staffed with some of the finest EMTs in the state of Indiana and be assured we intend to keep it that way. The reason the Town gets involved was because the EMT’s and drivers decided at the end of 1991 that they did not want any responsibilities other than running as EMTs and drivers. They wanted the Town to appoint someone in a paid position with the Town to do the scheduling, turning in reports and paper work. The Town Board ask for volunteers to do this, and Elsie Heimer agreed to do it if Janice Stonebumer and myself would help her. Janice and I agreed to help, with the Board’s approval, with everything we could except disciplinary action. This we feel is the responsibility of the Town Board as they are in charge of EMS. We also feel no EMT or driver should be in that position as we are all equal. Everyone should know all organizations has to have rules and regulations in order to keep things running smoothly. The rules the Town Board has been trying to follow were written by a committee of Walkerton EMTs and drivers. The committee at the time the rules were written four years ago was Karol Jackson, John Small, Jon Myer, Clayton Davis, Donna Napier and one other person who’s name I can’t remember, because she choose not to be a part of the committee or the service. In order for rules to work they must be enforced, and it is up to the Town Board to do that, our rules and by-laws, designed and written by the EMT and driver committee, and voted on and approved by the body, states to be a full time personnel you must cover a minimum of 10 hours a week. These rules also state, failure to notify the sommittee in writing of taking a leave over a month will be treated as a new person joining the service. These rules were written so every member would run their fair share of the hours, so no one would be overloaded with hours. Some of our members will not sign up for more than a month at a time, A letter was composed by the Town

attorney and sent to persons not in compliance with the rules they agreed to. Cheryl Rizek, as president of the Town Baord, signed the letter enforcing rules made by us. 1 feel Cheryl is the one being treated rudely and in a very unfair manner because she had a very difficult job to do and she had the guts to do it. Please find out the facts before you pass judgement. Jean Brownlee A Walkerton EMT And Proud Os It “Ambulance Service” In response to the letter in last week’s paper, I, very, very concerned citizen, would like to voice my opinion. I am very pleased with the ambulance service. Their response time and treatment of people is fantastic. I realize that they have lost some good EMT’s but, that doesn't mean there isn’t just as many good or better EMT’s still on the service. 1 would gladly call the Walkerton ambulance anytime for anything. As far as putting restrictions and requirements on volunteers, the town supplies uniforms, radios and everything an EMT needs on the ambulance and if these things are not being used a certain amount of time, they should be given back to the Town for those who are running more than their share. I realize that there are some EMT’s with families but you make out a schedule a month ahead of time and there's no reason why you can’t make arrangement with someone to watch those children. And you, a concerned citizen, should be grateful we even have an ambulance service. Mrs. Rizek doesn't need to get her act together. She is not hurting the Town. The only one she is hurting are the ones that don’t seem to be able to run a mere 40 hours a month (10 hours a week). They don’t like it because they have to turn in their radios so that those who are running the 40 hours and more can use them. I think that if some people would get their act together the ambulance service wouldn’t have the problems they do with the people not running the hours. If you’re not going to run the hours, let someone who is use the radios that arc not being used. That way those that are covering the hours could use the equipment. We have the best ambulance service around and I am very proud of that fact. A Very, Very Concerned Citizen “Responsibility” Everyday we hear that someone has driven into either the path of. or into the side of a train. We also hear that a car has been hit by another car on a bisecting road. We hear that the victims are outstanding people, and they usually are, but someone broke the law. It is easy to blame the railroad or the other driver. What ever happened to personal responsibility? In years gone by the rule was, stop, look and listen at an unlighted or ungated crossing. Now we holler at the railroad because it doesn't have gates or lights. How many times I have seen people go around the gate or through the flashing lights. How about stop signs? On our road there is a four stop corner. This morning alone, I have seen 10 trucks not stop either way. I know that you farmers need to get to market, but is an accident worth it? Would you like to kill a neighbor? Last week I made a trip to Bremen. Along the way, 1 saw six cars pull onto U.S. Highway 6 without stopping! Driving used to be an enjoyable activity but when a driver has to worry about all the other drivers, it can be very exhausting. If we would all drive like we want every other driver to drive, it would be a lot safer! Time certainly passes quickly! Already we have gone through the month of January. It hasn’t been a (continued on Page 5)