Backs funding for fire service

Editor,

I wanted to write in regards to the article in the paper where OPFD is asking for more money for staffing.

As someone who has been an active first responder for the OCBP and the OCFD Dive Team, and has worked closely with these positions, let me share a little description of their job: The Paramedic/Firefighter/EMT: We go where no one else wants to be.

To the mangled car wreck, the elderly fall victim who has been lying on the floor covered in their own waste for days.

The end-stage cancer patient who reminds you so much of your mom, or brother or, God forbid, your child, that it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up, or to the babbling, paranoid drug addict and we make a difference.

We leave the safety of our home or station, we leave meals uneaten and sleep unfinished because an emergency is just that — unplanned, unpredictable, and uncertain.

Sometimes we simply put someone back in their bed. Sometimes we arrive only to find there is nothing we can do.

Every now and then, we get to restart a heart, stop the bleeding, or ease the pain and suffering. Every time, we make a difference.

On an average day, people don’t typically think about the worst happening at any moment, but then a sudden pain fills your chest, a family member has an asthmatic episode, or maybe someone close to you begins to have an allergic reaction.

After a call to 911, Emergency Medical Services’ job begins.

Does response time matter? Yes!

For a small subset of patients, EMS response times are a critical matter of life or death. We just don’t know if the next patient will be one of those.

The thinner the resources and longer the response standard, the more likely those outliers will happen in many communities.

As Director Daly stated, “the main concern should be how rapid emergency responders arrive” and “We, as a board, need to consider that as a sacred time” and he is absolutely correct.

The OP Board needs to seriously consider increasing staff funding for the largest community in Worcester County, Ocean Pines.

When you have an EMS unit driving to PRMC with a driver and a medic in the back taking care of the patient, what happens when another emergency comes in?  Their ask of having four full-time positions on a 24/7 schedule is not asking a lot, especially when considering the safety of the community.

Possibly if the board would spend less money on legal counsel, they could positively fund something that is a true need for the OP Community.

Colby Phillips
Ocean Pines