The week of May 14-20 has been designated as "National EMS Week." Pictured are members of Lincoln County EMS and the Lincoln County Rescue Unit: (front row, l-r) David Montgomery; Hector Torres; Ernie Doss, public safety director; Paul Rentz, EMS director; Bobby Burgess; (middle row) Tony Jordan, dive team captain; Mike Greeson; Rita Hussey; Cassie Smith; Jaime Turner; (back row) Allen Wood; Jim Moore; Adam Aycock; Marc Danner; Jeff Waller, rescue unit chief; Chuck Carroll; James Broome; and Gerome Bolton. The 33rd annual "National EMS Week," sponsored by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), will be celebrated May 1420.

The purpose of the observance is to increase public awareness of various safety issues as well as give the public a chance to honor those who stand on the front lines, providing day-to-day lifesaving services to the community.

The theme for this year's observance is "EMS: Serving on Health Care's Front Line," which underscores the commitment and dedication of the 750,000 EMS providers across the United States.

"As this year's theme emphasizes, the brave men and women who serve as EMS providers are often first on the scene of a disaster, a motor vehicle crash, or any other event that may place them in a hazardous environment," said Dr. Frederick Blum, ACEP president. "It's important that we take the time to honor these frontline medical responders for often going above and beyond the call of duty to save lives, while risking their own."

The EMS' mission is to save the lives of sick or injured individuals in emergency situations.

Although its mission seems simple enough, its history, grounded in both health care and public safety, is much more complex. In essence, EMS has several "parents" including trauma care, traffic safety, cardiology, resuscitation science, and military medicine. It continues to cross the boundaries of numerous disciplines such as medical transportation, health care, public health, and homeland security.

According to Paul Rentz, director of Lincoln County EMS, "EMS is out-of-hospital patient care, first response to emergency situations, ambulance transportation, public safety, an extension of emergency medicine, and an arm of public health. We are here to save lives and otherwise serve the people of the community to the best of our ability."

Local residents are encouraged to drop by the Lincoln County Office of Emergency Services (OES) on School Street next week and express their appreciation to the staff for all they do for the people of the county.

In addition to Rentz, the OES staff is comprised of Ernie Doss, public safety director; Brad Pittman; Rita Hussey; Jonathan Doss; Byron Hogan; Tony Jordan; Susan Anglin; Rhonda Radford; Brandon Reed; Jim Moore; Cindy Smith; Jeff Waller; Rodney Willis; Gerome Bolton; Carrie Shoemaker; Rebecca Yahn; Martin Braden; Misty Flynn; Tommy Crutcher; John Martin; Jason McAvoy; and Casey Broom.

Both Lincoln County EMS and the Lincoln County Rescue Unit were organized in 1974.

Gerald Davis was one of the county's first paid EMTs. Basically, he was paid to be on-call and carried a radio at all times. If a call came in, he would go to the office, get the ambulance, and enlist the aid of volunteers as needed.

Other EMTs serving the county around this time included Ted Adkins, Mike Banks, Gerome Bolton, Leslie Burton, Carlton Beggs, Jesse Burton, Bobby Anthony, Raleigh Long, Jr., Bruce Beggs, and Lee Moss.

In the beginning, there was no central 911 office. Rupert Hawes, the mother of Dr. Alcye Hawes, was the first unofficial EMS dispatcher. Because she worked at Rees Funeral Home and was there 24 hours a day, the county installed a phone and a radio for Hawes. She answered ambulance calls for approximately one year, until the 24-hour dispatch service was set up at the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office in 1975.

Then, tragedy struck in 1986 while Jack Bryant, Ruth Bryant, David Hasslebeck, and Debbie Smalley were serving as EMTs for the county. Mr. Bryant and Hasslebeck were involved in a wreck in connection with a call; Bryant was killed and Hasslebeck was severely injured.

As a result of the accident, the ambulance service at University Hospital sent a truck to provide coverage for the county for a week; the different crews were housed at the Lincoln Motel. Whenever a call for help would come in, the dispatcher would notify Lincoln County Commission Chairman Walker Norman, who would go and get the crew and then accompany them to the call.

Originally, the EMT/rescue unit office was located in a building on Metasville Road behind the Lincoln Loan Company. In 1986, the group began sharing quarters with the Lincolnton Volunteer Fire Department in what was a gas station on Peachtree Street. In 1995, the EMT/rescue unit moved into its current headquarters on

School Street and was re-named the Lincoln County Office of Emergency Services.

This year, the OES was placed under the auspices of the newly-created Lincoln County Department of Public Safety.

In conjunction with National EMS Week, OES Director Rentz issued the following guidelines for dealing with medical emergencies:

Describe the emergency to the dispatcher; speak slowly and calmly.

Give the dispatcher your name, telephone number, and address. Also, note any nearby landmarks.

Give the dispatcher the names, ages, and number of patients, if known.

Don't hang up until you are told to do so.

Don't leave the scene until help arrives.

Keep the patient(s) awake, calm, and warm.

Do not give him anything to eat or drink.

Do not move a victim who has been in a car accident, had a serious fall or has been found unconscious unless he is in immediate danger.

Perform first aid if you are willing and able.

For more information on how to deal with emergency situations, call the OES office at 706-359-4855.