Chestnut EMS raising funds for training equipment

[September 28, 2011]  CHESTNUT -- The Chestnut Emergency Medical Services unit is in the middle of a campaign to raise funds for the purchase of an intubation mannequin, an advanced training tool that would enhance the group's training and educational opportunities. It would also allow the EMS supervisor to teach emergency medical technician classes.

Saturday night the Chestnut EMS unit hosted a soup and sandwich supper at the firehouse in Chestnut. Members of the community and surrounding area attended the event to show their support of the unit, just as they have done in the past.

In 2010, the unit's fundraising efforts raised $10,000 to purchase a cardiac monitor that is one more piece of lifesaving equipment available when a call sends members of the unit to a medical emergency or accident site. The goal was reached by organizing simple community events such as bake sales, soup and chili suppers, and selling cookbooks.

"Our unit has two first responders and eight EMTs, and I am a paramedic," EMS supervisor Cathy Gobleman explained. "We are a BLS, a Basic Life Support Agency. We cannot transport, but our unit members can respond to a 911 call and care for someone from the time of our arrival until LCPA takes over care. We can take patient history and get vital readings, give oxygen, and 5 medications.

"Now, with the monitor, we can connect it to the patient and have a reading and we can call the paramedics enroute and give them a report while they are en route. Those are critical minutes. If we have the initial information entered on the medical form, and procedures completed or under way, it saves time so paramedics can address the injury or condition immediately."

The intubation mannequin is a lifelike figure equipped with features that respond to the actions of a medical team during training. The "lungs" are audible when cardiopulmonary resuscitation is applied, and the throat is open to allow the placement of an airway device. There are other features that can be added, but each one increases the cost. The number of training features the Chestnut EMS unit can order will depend on the amount of funds it can raise. A goal of $10,000 will buy one with multiple features.

"Mount Pulaski is really generous about letting us use its mannequin," Gobleman said, "but if we want to train or practice, it has to be when the equipment is available. Also, I am a licensed EMS instructor. Lincoln Rural Fire Protection District and Logan County Paramedic Association rotate teaching EMT classes. I am qualified to teach the EMT-B course and I teach continuing education to EMT-B’s in our local area.   but I'd like to take a turn and teach here. I can also teach CPR.  I would be willing to teach a first responder course in Chestnut but only if there is enough local interest."

Gobleman is employed by the state of Illinois and is a part-time paramedic for LCPA. But she and the entire membership of Chestnut EMS and the fire department are volunteers, just like those from other small towns and rural fire protection districts. They depend on community support in order to provide response services the small towns and surrounding countryside need. They also depend on volunteers from those towns and rural areas to join the EMS units and fire departments. Chestnut EMS is currently looking for additional members.

The next Chestnut EMS fundraising event will be a bake sale on Nov. 19 and 20, during the same hours as Christmas on Vinegar Hill in Mount Pulaski. The sale will be at the Chestnut Fire Department, and the location will be included on the map for Mount Pulaski's participating sites.

If anyone is interested in purchasing a Chestnut EMS cookbook for $10, they may contact Cathy Gobleman at 217-796-3684 or pick one up at the Bank of Chestnut, 217-796-3305, during regular bank hours. The keepsake book is a variety of family recipes submitted by members of the EMS unit.

[By MARLA BLAIR]