THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 31, 1997 TAG: 9701300153
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DOUG BEIZER, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 72 lines
For eight years, Jeff Clifford handed out emergency medical care and asked nothing in return. Last month, his former colleagues at Plaza Volunteer Rescue Squad finally got the chance to pay him.
Clifford's mother-in-law was sick and alone in New Jersey and he did not have the money to bring her to Virginia Beach where she could receive care and be close to her family.
The ambulance squad went to get her.
``I got a call from the doctor saying my mother-in-law had terminal cancer and she was not expected to live,'' Clifford said. ``The hospital up there wasn't treating her, so basically we decided we needed to move her down here.''
The $2,000 or more cost of hiring a private medical transportation company was too expensive for Clifford and his wife, Patricia, so he called the squad he left about a year ago to see if it could help. Jeff Brennaman was Plaza's Rescue Squad commander when Clifford called in December. Brennaman agreed to approve the 16-hour round trip as long as the city approved the request.
Virginia Beach's volunteer rescue squads own and maintain their own equipment, which makes it possible for them respond to requests such as the Cliffords. However, performing a long-distance transport is not something the squad normally does, Brennaman said.
``It was kind of our way of giving a little back to (Jeff Clifford) for all the time and effort that he contributed to the squad,'' Brennaman said. ``He had given a lot of years to the squad.''
The next step for Clifford was to find volunteers to drive the ambulance and work as paramedics. Emergency medical technicians James Doubler and Mike Philips and paramedic Rita Fickenscher quickly responded to the request. The three alternated driving while Jeff and Patricia Clifford sat with her mother, Mary Machillo, 69.
The Cliffords only expense was the gas used for the trip.
So far, the move has been a success.
``Patricia's mother got into the hospital down here and they did a lot of tests on her,'' Clifford said. ``They put her in ICU not more than a week after arriving here and we thought for sure that she was going to die, but thankfully that didn't happen. It was like a miracle because (the volunteers and doctors) were so great to help us out like that.''
Clifford said the squad's act did more for his family than help out in a financially tough situation. It was a relief because they didn't know where to turn. ``There was nobody to take care of Patricia's mother up in New Jersey, and she wanted to come down here and be with us. I think it is great that we have an organization like the volunteer rescue squad,'' he said.
Machillo has since been taken out of the intensive care unit at Sentara Norfolk General and has started physical therapy to regain her ability to walk.
``Nobody would believe how well she is doing today. It's like a miracle,'' Patricia Clifford said. ``There was no hope when she was up in New Jersey. Even the doctors down here were pessimistic at first. Her recovery is just unbelievable.''
Plaza's volunteers say they are available to help others.
``Typically we try to entertain every request, even from nonvolunteers. And we have done it on a local basis on a fairly routine basis,'' said Brennaman, who, in addition to being a Virginia Beach volunteer, is a professional emergency medical technician in Chesapeake. ``If they can give us some advance notice we like to put together an extra ambulance crew so it doesn't impact the 911 unit.''
The recipients are asked only to make a donation to their local squad if they are able. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DAVID B. HOLLINGSWORTH
Patricia and Jeff Clifford are thankful that friends at Plaza
Volunteer Rescue Squad brought Patricia's sick mother here from New
Jersey.