Wintergreen Fire and Rescue answered approximately 3,100 calls in 2021. This represents an increase of approximately 8 percent. Much of the increase is either directly or indirectly related to Covid-19. Drilling down on the numbers offers some insights:
Wintergreen Rescue Squad has decided to decrease the fleet size by one ambulance.
Having five ambulances certainly does make things more comfortable when equipment breaks down. Nonetheless, when you consider a fifth cardiac monitor, a fifth power cot, a fifth radio, etc., the cost of a fifth ambulance is substantial. We have decided to adopt a “fewer and newer” approach hoping we can find that sweet spot operationally. Time will tell.
Our 2012 Mercedes van ambulance drew the short straw. Why get rid of the van? Easy, it’s our only two-wheel drive unit. We have learned that even without snow, the pitch of many driveways at Wintergreen requires a four-wheel drive to get our trucks into reasonable positions for patient loading. We'll miss it. The ride was excellent.
Our Emergency Medical Service calls outpaced our fire calls at a rate of 8 to 1.
Ten percent of our call volume was related to car crashes.
Injuries from falls accounted for 372 incidents. This is disappointing because many of these falls can be avoided by simply finding trip hazards and eliminating them.
We responded to 258 cardiac-related calls, of which 44 were full cardiac arrests.
There were 19 patients transferred to a medevac service for transport via helicopter.
We answered eight structure fires, 12 brush fires, and 12 car fires.
We have logged 8,156 training hours, including certification of 12 new EMTs, and currently, there are 11 students in our fire academy.
Bonus stat: In 2021, 124 patients were transported with lights flashing. The Commonwealth of Virginia Administrative Code does not allow our ambulances to utilize emergency warning lights while traveling to the hospital unless the “Attendant-In-Charge” has deemed the patient’s condition as life-threatening. –Curtis Sheets, Wintergreen Fire & Rescue Chief