The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
HVA stations ambulance at Saline Fire Department
Response time to rural area expected to improve
By Sue G. Collins, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: April 17, 2008
To more quickly respond to emergency calls in Saline, Milan and surrounding townships, Huron Valley Ambulance will now keep a first-response vehicle based at the Saline Area Fire Department.
Advertisement
The HVA unit, staffed by one paramedic, will accompany the Saline Area Fire Department on all emergency calls in Saline, Milan, York Township, Lodi Township and parts of western Pittsfield Township. The ambulance previously rotated bases throughout the county and response time would tend to be longer.
"Now, our paramedic can start advance life support care more quickly," said Joyce Williams, HVA public affairs manager. "The goal is to stabilize a person there on the scene and better serve the entire area efficiently."
Three specially trained senior paramedics will rotate shifts with the HVA community unit in Saline.
"These are seasoned paramedics, trained to handle emergencies on their own," Williams said.
Tim Newell has been with HVA since 1995 and was in Saline Monday on his third shift since the new arrangement was set between the fire department and HVA.
"We can now bring the care to the rural communities as quick as possible so you have the same benefits as those, say, located in downtown Ann Arbor," Newell said.
"We are a fully functioning paramedic unit and, if there is a critical matter, we are also able to transport with a fire fighter driving."
Saline Fire Chief Craig Hoeft was pleased to have his department host the HVA vehicle and staff.
"The mutual aid agreement is a win-win situation," Hoeft. "Most important, this means a savings of seven or eight minutes before the first-responder ambulance would arrive on the scene."
HVA has had a community unit in Dexter for two years and hopes to someday build a station in York Township to best serve the southeast rural corner of the county.
Not all stories are guaranteed to appear
online. The Web edition contains a reasonable
sampling of the print edition stories.
For the most complete news coverage, we invite you to
subscribe
to the print edition of the paper.
Expanded
Web
Coverage
Staff Blog, "Inside The Newsroom"
TOP JOBS
