Marshfield Fire & Rescue Reflects on Busy Holiday Weekend

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Department Responds to High Call Volume Christmas Weekend

MARSHFIELD, WI (OnFocus) – The Christmas weekend is a time during which many people gather with family and friends to celebrate. Unfortunately, fire and ambulance emergencies never take a holiday, which is why members of Marshfield Fire & Rescue Department continue to keep the community safe during the festive season.

“All-in-all, our call volume was about average of any other day,” said Chief Pete Fletty. “We had six instances where two or more ambulances or fire calls happened within a very short amount of time. This has become the norm for us these days.”

Marshfield Fire and Rescue staff are cross-trained as certified Critical Care Paramedics, meaning they provide advanced medical care as first responders. Call volume has started to spike over the past 20 years and as the population ages, this trend is expected to continue for the next 20 years before it levels out.

From Friday, December 23 at 10:00am to Monday, December 26 at 7:52am, EMT’s responded to 37 total calls for service, which included 24 EMS calls and 3 fire calls. These included a carbon monoxide investigation, seizures, breathing difficulties, falls, uncontrolled bleeding, chest pain, possible stroke, self-inflicted injuries, a working structure fire, and transfers – to name a few.

Deputy Chief Jody Clements offered his perspective of how Christmas Eve was for him and Blue Shift, as well as some thoughts and activities around the station during Christmas.

“Our shift was able to take time to eat, play and most importantly take a pause from our routine and say ‘thank you’ to each other. Some of the most serious and sincere moments of the holiday were when we exchanged our gifts and we showed our gratitude towards each other. From my shift, I received a few things. Among them was a handmade card and a framed picture of myself with my shift. It put a lump in my throat and tears to my eyes.

To be part of this team of young professionals that work hard and care about each other and the people we serve is amazing, I feel so blessed to be part of this team. We were out on the apparatus floor enjoying some time together and the tones went off for a person that fell and unknown if they are conscious or breathing. In a blink of an eye, one ambulance and one engine crew were responding to an incident. It seemed as soon as they were out the door we received another call for service. Another ambulance out. Festivities ended. As we all know we do not schedule emergencies – nor does one emergency wait for another – the time where all of us are in the station becomes more precious.

In the last few days, the inclement weather has affected many things. We received 3 calls for service in which the dispatch information stated that elderly people haven’t eaten in days because Meals on Wheels wasn’t running. One call for service had an elderly person that activated her home health pendant because she didn’t have any food.

Our people were able to make her some oatmeal and contact her family. These situations are normally more complex than anyone can imagine. Some of these people have family members that are close, some have nobody. These calls effect our crews in many ways: they feel sadness, anger, and disappointment. This isn’t a socio-economic issue, it’s a “having issue”: these people don’t have anyone. Money and a beautiful house have no meaning unless you have someone when you need them. Our people see the duality of situations and how looks can be deceiving.

Overall we had a very busy Christmas and we were very blessed to be able to exchange gifts, share a meal and spend some time together.”

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News Desk
Author: News Desk

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