Published: April 17, 2015 | Last Modified: April 17, 2015 02:20PM
WESTERLY — A new ambulance and the return of the Westerly Ambulance Corps’ classic symbol as a logo have helped the organization regroup as it looks to meet growing needs in area communities.
A new $160,000 ambulance was recently delivered, and a part of the corps’ history has also been restored as WAC’s own symbol is prominent on the 2015 Ford vehicle, said Corps Chief Bethany Gingerella. An increasing number of calls for service made it necessary for the department to add its fifth rig, she said.
The ambulance corps has continued to upgrade its equipment in the past two years. Gingerella said the new equipment ensures that patients are being “assessed, monitored and transported with state-of-the-art equipment.”
The chief hopes an ambulance, which does not come fully equipped at the time of purchase, can be replaced annually.
Gingerella notes the corps handles about 6,000 calls for service annually, with 1,500 of those being transports out of hospital-based facilities to others that offer extended care. She said the longer trips make mileage a particular concern and that because of “difficult financial times due a decrease in collectable billing related to the Affordable Care Act,” the corps was unable to upgrade its fleet.
WAC has continued to work toward upgrades recently, previously adding four stretchers and a battery-operated lifting system to minimize back injuries pripr to the recent ambulance purchase. Gingerella said grants to fund the purchase of were sought from a number of sources.
Except for “one cardiac monitor,” no funding was available, Gingerella said. Special financing was available for the stretchers, and since the department has used them, she said the number of personnel injuries reported has declined.
The ongoing project also included upgrading its cardiac monitors. Cardiac monitoring equipment, although serviced often, Gingerella said, has an average lifespan of just seven years. WAC’s monitors were at that mark, she said.
With a good financial deal and help from the Roberts Foundation, which donated one of the five cardiac monitors, the ambulances and first-response vehicles were equipped with a total of 15 monitors.
Gingerella said the monitor on a first-response vehicle stationed in Misquamicut during the summer months is equipped with technology able to measure the carbon monoxide in a patient’s blood through the use of a non-invasive probe on the patient’s finger. The process allows emergency personnel to determine if the patient needs to be brought to a facility that has hyperbaric chamber available.
“It is especially critical in ensuring our firefighters are appropriately evaluated during structure fire operations and the rehab period after the structure fire is out,” Gingerella said.
Gingerella also noted that for the past two years, the corps has been involved with CurrentCare RI, a free database that places patient health information in an area accessible to first-responders. A patient who subscribes provides medical history, medications, recent laboratory studies to emergency personnel.
The organization is continuing its fundraising efforts to help revamp equipment and offset growing operating costs.
Gingerella said the WAC is in the midst of a subscription-membership program with an annual fee $50. The fee covers any costs not paid by the patient’s insurance if transported by Westerly ambulance.
Meanwhile, Assistant Chief Michael T. Brancato said the corps’ traditional symbol featuring the star of life will be again be prominently placed on the ambulances. He said the WAC symbol was removed between 1972 and 1974 and replaced with the universal symbol for emergency medical services.
The return of the symbol, said Brancato, honors “all the men and women who have served the community over the last 98 years.”
A photo of the symbol, called the “Corps Caduceus,” on a 1970s ambulance served as a model for those who recreated it. |