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I once looked at a calendar and saw everything they could ever think of put on a day to honor people or animals. Now, I'm not against honoring some things. You should honor secretaries, who do so much to help, or teachers or ministers, you get my drift. May 19 - 25, 2013 is a week set aside to honor those individuals who provide life-saving measures to the public. Some do it as a job, receiving pay. A very select group still falls into that category as volunteers.

The Emergency Medical Services members of Remer Area Ambulance Service spend hours each month in training and on-call should you need us. These are busy times, and it is getting harder and harder to have people available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Jobs, family needs, our own age are a few things that are catching up to us. It is hard to comprehend the amount of taxes we would need to pay IF we need to have a "for-profit" service move in to cover our emergencies.

This week, take time to thank a member of Remer Area Ambulance Service: Huge kudos to Chief Diane Ammerman! Training Officer Lori Sizenbach, Osha Officer Nancy Raines, Supply Officer Mike Doro, Equipment Officer Dave Anderson, Publicity Officer Terri Datzman, Secretary Sheryl Doro and Members: Mike Bennett, William Bernhjelm, Patsy Bernhjelm, Melinda Blackburn, Bob Dahlsgaard, Patty Daniels, Shem Daugherty, Pat Dysart, Kayla Enerson, Bev Gaines, Lyndsay Hauskens, Zeb Hemsworth, Manja Holter, Sarah Holter, Carol Kloehn, Shiela Lego, Carol Procopio, James Ruyak, Lynn Schneider, Jim Sizenbach, James Swankier and Jennifer Welk.

A focus recently has been to demonstrate to the general public a hands-only CPR technique. Many people do not begin to aid someone that collapsed right in front of them when it is heart-related. They are afraid they'd do something incorrect or afraid they'd have to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and don't want to risk the germs. So they call 911 and wait. In our area, response from trained personnel could be 5 minutes, could be 20 or more. There is a small window of time that this person may survive without compressions to circulate the blood. Studies show that giving fast (100 times a minute) and deep compressions in the center of the chest & skipping breaths could save a life. The hope is to pass this information to family and friends, until the whole area is informed. By learning this and getting comfortable showing others, the life you save might just be your own.[[In-content Ad]]

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