Posted on 10/26/2016 5:19:31 PM PDT by GrootheWanderer
Darien, Connecticut is a quaint little town that you could easily drive past on I-95 without noticing. And while it seems like a quiet place where nothing notable happens … every siren that goes off in the middle of the night disturbing the peaceful, tree-lined streets tells a different story. Every first responder in the town’s three fire departments and emergency medical services is a volunteer.
All medical emergencies, from a fiery motor vehicle rollover on I-95 to a woman going into labor at home, brings the Post 53 ambulances wailing down the streets. And the EMTs who will treat you are all in high school.
I grew up in this very town, and when I was in high school, it was completely normal for my classmates’ radios to go off in class, causing them to immediately run out of the room. The school even had a specific parking spot for the ambulances, so the students could instantly go out to save someone’s life. Teachers understood, other students understood (and were maybe even jealous), and it was just how life went in our town.
(Excerpt) Read more at babble.com ...
Awesome!
Some teens. Some.
Some cannot figure out what state they live in.
Was the same way in Illinois in our volunteer fire dept.
“Anyone familiar with the town knows that it’s one of the richest residential suburbs ON EARTH.One would think the town could afford a professional ambulance service to take critically ill patients to New Haven,Stamford or Manhattan “
Obviously, you are not familiar with Darien ....
Obviously, you did not read past the headline ...
When I lived in New Jersey, there were a number of older high school students in my town who were on the local volunteer first aid squad (The TV series “Emergency” was a great recruiting tool in the seventies). My father was the lieutenant on the first aid squad as well as an EMT instructor, and they were some of his students. Some had a decent kit in the back of their cars. I just wonder if these days the same kit would violate the “zero tolerance” policies.
In one case a student got injured in one of the shop classes. The call went out over the PA system for certain. students to get to the shop. By the time the ambulance arrived, the patient was ready to be transported.
THAT is why we need to have no illegals:
Kids LEARN how to deal with the world via their jobs. Greeting people, handing strife, bieng on time, many things. You learned that stuff via your first jobs.
theater ticket taker - illegal alien
McDonalds - illegal alien
Roofing - illegal alien
farm stuff - illegal aliens
Restraurant - illegal aliens
People permit them to FLOOD in, then wonder why in heck kids can’t handle stress, can’t learn manners.
Ilegals TAKE THEIR JOBS and our kids don’t learn what they need to.
I grew up in Darien. They are also served by volunteer fire departments. The men who put out the fires are entirely unpaid, but the departments are rumored to have tens of millions of dollars in assets. They do throw great parties, and have very fancy firehouses and the latest equipment.
As for the EMT kids, they are very capable. There is a lot of push by the parents for them to grow up and make something of themselves. Even when I grew up in the 60s and 70s, the high school was very competitive and they pushed demanding academics. We had a number of 800/800 SAT scores, and a lot of the best students got 4 or 5 on multiple AP exams. We did also drink a lot of beer and destroy a lot of valuable vehicles, typical of the rich-kid type of town. Most survived, and became affluent professionals of some sort.
Several years ago, I saw a program about the development of the Atom bomb.
At Oak Ridge Tenn. They had hired a whole bunch of teenage girls to operate machines which did some kind of highly technical work, maybe separating uranium from ore.
A person who was over a large amount of the program visited and was taken aback that they had those girls doing such critical work. Their supervisor told him that they were very good at the job.
The guy over the entire program did not agree but did agree to a test. They had some of the machines run by scientists and some run by the teenage girls.
The girls beat them badly.
I think this is a brilliant solution. Gives the kids responsibility and keeps the cost of government down. You would prefer hiring EMTS? Would probably take five people minimum to be on call 24/7.
Yah,I did.and having a pretty fair knowledge of the Town of Darien (google it to find out just how rich it is) and having worked in big city ERs my entire adult life I think my observations might be worthy of consideration.
It's good to hear of high school kids working hard and serving others but when I'm in cardiac tamponade after a car accident on I-95 I want an adult...a professional...scooping me off the Interstate.
Of course your mileage may differ.
Ever heard of "penny wise and pound foolish"? Well,this article is an excellent example.Next time you need heart surgery you could,to save $$$,choose the 25 year old surgeon who just graduated from the University of Bangladesh rather than the 50 year old graduate of Stanford.
Somehow I don't think you'd take Option #1.I know I wouldn't.
I grew up in Fairfax County Va and in 60s they had a very similar program. A lot of my running buddies were volunteers and had all sorts of wild tales.
The fire department ran the ambulance service and both were paid for through the taxes. However each firehouse had a core of full time professionals who lead and trained the volunteers.
Astronauts Mark and Scott Kelly volunteered on the West Orange, NJ, First Aid Squad when they were in High School in the early 80s and worked with me on a paid EMS service. I know Mark is reviled here for his anti-gun stance but they were nice guys and those were good times.
When we’re talking about ‘TEENS”, i think about the FR fave term “teens”. I’ll be those are not the other “teens” that’s always in the news.
Good points. Good post.
but when I’m in cardiac tamponade after a car accident on I-95 I want an adult...a professional...scooping me off the Interstate.
So you would also have a problem with an 18 year old combat medic plugging up the six shrapnel holes in your chest while starting a large bore IV hoping he can get blood into you faster than it’s leaking out.
Or didn’t you read the part where they take the same courses and instruction, and have to pass the same test with a higher score than that ‘adult’ who just passed with a 70.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.