Helping the help
Stanley looking for more help on ambulanceBy DAVE CALDWELL, Staff Writer, dcaldwell@minotdailynews.com
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STANLEY In times of emergency, people rely on the ambulance to help them get medical attention as promptly as possible. But now, in Stanley, the ambulance crew is the entity that needs help.
Who will help the helpers?
Demands for the service have increased with the heightened oil activity in the area.
"With all the activity, our demand has just about doubled for the rides," said John Caranicas of Stanley Ambulance Service. "So we need more people to join. We need more students to come in."
Caranicas said only he and squad leader Debbie Johnson were trained outside of Stanley's own training classes.
"Everybody else was trained in Stanley Ambulance Service classes," Caranicas said. "So we do have (emergency medical technicians), but we need more."
Caranicas said the ambulance service is also trying to get a new building, but that is proving to be a tough row to hoe.
"It keeps getting delayed and delayed," he said. "We'd like to get a different one where you can wash the units and have a classroom in it, instead of using the conference room in the town hall."
"The city was willing to put up the money for the lot and the architect's fees," Johnson said. "That comes to about $48,000. We got an oil impact grant of $10,000. The building started off at $300,000 to $400,000, but now it's up to about $600,000.
"We can come up right now with about $300,000 of it, but we need another $300,000. The city doesn't have the funds to give to us. And we're under the city, so we can't go to the bank and take out a loan for the ambulance service. The city has to do it for us. And they're not really willing to do that."
Johnson said that the service had a fundraiser and sent letters out to oil companies seeking financial assistance at one point for a specific piece of equipment.
"We only had one company that gave us anything," she said. "This was a $14,000 piece of equipment. They gave us $500."
She said most of the letters referenced aid given in other ways and not generally given to individual entities.
"They basically gave at the office," Caranicas said.
This even though Johnson said the service has been to a seizure, a lightning strike, chest pains, broken shoulders and a death, among others all on oil rigs.
"Plus when they're off work, they go out and get plastered and drive into the ditch," she said.
"We've got a rig about every half-mile now and trucks coming out of our ears," Caranicas said.
She said that the service is averaging about 23 runs per month.
Stanley's service has been used as far away as Tagus, Powers Lake and other communities.
"Berthold has asked for mutual assistance before," Johnson said. She said Tioga also requests their aid occasionally "if they run into trouble."
Staffing is the root of the problem.
"We've got three, maybe four EMTs," Johnson said.
"It depends on the time of the night," Caranicas added. "Whether it's 3 o'clock in the morning or not."
Plus, two of the EMTs Johnson and Caranicas drive school bus routes.
"We're the only two 'I's the intermediates in the squad also," Caranicas said.
"We've got eight EMTs, but we really only have four," Johnson said. "Three of them, we haven't seen for a long time.
"It's not really good. Even though it shows we have a good amount of EMTs, they're not there."
Caranicas added that there are no paramedics in the area. Paramedics are basically EMTs with extended training, the general rule being that paramedics can administer many more types of medications while treating patients.
"You've got to have enough demand to keep the paramedics busy," he said. "Keep them working so they can remember all their drugs, and we don't have that."
Training classes will be offered starting Sunday, Sept. 7, in Stanley, and ending in April. Interested persons can contact Caranicas at 628-2329. There's a catch, though the classes will only be held if there are six or more people signed up.
"Right now, he's maybe got three interested," Johnson said.
The previous medical director for Stanley Ambulance, Dr. Robert Heninger, wrote to the members of the service:
"I do not think any of you really understand the positive impact you have on the lives of your fellow citizens, and I for sure know that very few of them can appreciate what you mean to the community. Without your hard work and dedication, there would be many people in this community who would not be here today."
"I thought that paragraph said a lot, as far as what he saw in us," said Cheryl Weisenberger, secretary-treasurer of the service.
The service's new director is Dr. Paul Olson of Minot.
If nothing changes, the service can be stretched a little further, but not infinitely. As of now, Caranicas and Johnson have to coordinate with one another if they even want to go to Minot just to make sure someone's there to make ambulance runs.
Without help, the system will eventually break down.
"You know, it doesn't happen," Caranicas said. "You can call all you want for an ambulance, but unless you have people manning the thing and some effort going into it, it just isn't going to happen. And if it doesn't happen here, it's going to take an hour to get somebody from Minot.
"It would be nice if everybody realizes that."
