Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 7, 1995 TAG: 9507070052
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The setting was Orvis at 4 p.m. a week ago Wednesday. A 2-year-old boy was in trouble. The caller was frantic.
"We have a child here who is choking!" she told Roanoke 911 dispatcher Vicki Babb. "Every time he tries [to breathe], he can't!"
Babb flipped open an emergency medical procedures guidebook.
"Can you do this? Can you wrap your arms around his waist?" she asked.
The caller relayed the instructions to a second person tending to the boy.
"OK now, make a fist with one hand and place it against the stomach in the middle, slightly above the navel," Babb continued. "Grasp your fist with the other hand. Press it into the stomach with a quick, upward thrust."
There was a pause. Suddenly, a toddler's wails filled the store. A piece of sugar candy lodged in the boy's throat had popped out of his mouth.
The caller gasped loudly over the phone.
"It's out!" she cried.
The little boy was fine. Just to make sure, Babb dispatched emergency medical technicians to the store.
That real-life scene will be repeated with more and more frequency in Roanoke.
This time last year, Babb and other 911 operators in the city could have sent an ambulance. And that was it.
They couldn't have told the boy's frantic mother about the Heimlich maneuver, which may have saved his life. Nor could they have offered instructions on rudimentary cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
"A year ago, we didn't have the expertise to give advice over the phone," said Ronald Wade, the city's communications superintendent.
That changed recently. The city's Communications Department is beefing up its work force by five operators and is adding "Emergency Medical Dispatch" to its service.
Trained dispatchers in Roanoke now will offer potentially lifesaving advice while ambulances are on the way. The service is offered by only one in 25 emergency dispatch centers nationwide.
It's almost as if reality is imitating television - as in the popular show "Rescue 911."
The EMD system officially kicked off on Monday, but Roanoke 911 operators have been implementing it slowly over several months. That's why Babb was prepared with lifesaving advice more than a week ago.
The change comes in conjunction with the Fire Department's expansion of its First Responder program citywide. Until now, it had been used at only half of the city's fire stations.
That means that in life-or-death situations - or in cases where an ambulance may be more than six minutes away - firefighters trained as emergency medical technicians will be dispatched along with paramedics in ambulances.
Because fire stations are more numerous and evenly spaced through the city than rescue squads, the firefighter/EMTs may arrive sooner.
"Critical life threats typically require lots of manpower to manage," said Bob Agnor, the city's manager of communications. "Seconds count. And a fire engine may be able to get there quicker than an ambulance."
The city receives more than 200,000 calls to 911 each year. About 98,000 result in dispatches of police, ambulance crews or firefighters. The vast majority deal with police calls.
The new services aren't free. Telephone subscribers will see a 56-cent boost in their monthly bills. City Council approved the tax increase during budget deliberations in May.
The increase will raise about $325,000 annually, which will cover costs of an upgraded computer system and new telephones. The old equipment, which dates to the advent of local 911 service, is obsolete and nearly worn out, Wade said.
Additional operators will be hired because dispatchers must undergo dozens of hours of annual training to maintain Emergency Medical Dispatch certification. Operators will receive no pay increases for the change in their duties.
The city isn't the first valley jurisdiction to add the service.
Botetourt began an Emergency Medical Dispatch system almost two years ago. Enhancements to Salem's 911 system are expected to be up and running by October. There is no definite date for the service start-up in Roanoke County.
One of the hidden benefits of the program is its effect on dispatchers. Until recently, they would experience tremendous frustration because they could not offer helpful advice in emergency situations.
"We're in the business of helping people," said Mark Fuller, a 10-year dispatch veteran who has worked in both the city and county. "People on the other end are asking for help; they want to know what to do. Now we can give it to them."
by CNB