Ambulances

There are supposed to be 2 but the Children's Parade is today,. Pretty bad when no one comes.

Ther are 2 for the entire island? That's scary.

The requirements are set at 1 ambulance for 50,000 population. These stats are made by the EMT/Firefighters 1st responder studies on a national basis.

cityguy, thanks for the info-does not seem like enough for our island. when they got to the hospital, someone was washing the ambulance tires and said "oh, is this the guy from ____?"
at least the last report of this person, seems to be doing better but will need testing.

our fire fighters are not required to be trained as EMTs

Majority of Firefighters are not EMTs. Both are classified as first responders!

I would think population density should enter into the calculation. 50,000 people in Idaho should have different support requirements than 50,000 in NYC. I guess not.

i would think so too

I have no idea if it helps but I give St Croix rescue some $ every year, most of their EMTs are volunteers. What should happen is that firefighters should be EMT trained like everywhere else in America. It just makes sense. They can get full retirement at 50 or 55.

I would definitely contact the Governor and Senators. This is one of the basic services that is overlooked.

emt is a pretty easy certification. paramedic is more complex.

During the past two decades, I have often wished that St Croix (all of the VI) had better first res- ponders. It would not be that difficult to train our police and fire professionals as EMT's. I have seen it done in the states with great results. The city of Sunnyvale, California (silicon valley) has for over 40 years had their police trained as firemen and EMT. (check it out on the web).. That would work great in the Virgin Islands. The small population and small area to cover would provide great protection for our citizens.

Unfortunately leaders here with small minds have blocked this kind of thinking and innovation. Let's make changes in the future.

The EMT program is only 120 hours. (normally qualifies for 7 college credits) Easy-peasy! Then, the fun begins....

while on the boardwalk once i called an ambulance for a elderly lady who got overheated and light headed

she had passed out for a couple minutes

the 911 operator called me back 30 minutes later while i was already taking her to hospital and said no ambulances were available and transport her to hospital myself

a whole 30 minutes had passed....

she ended up being ok.. but...

One of the reasons why both my kids took the EMT course after turning 18. Also comes in handy at college. The "scare vaule" alone is well worth the investment.