Letter to the Editor:

I attended a city council meeting the other night, and I was made aware of a frightening situation.

I have mentioned before having watched our ambulance crew at work helping a small boy who had seriously injured himself on his bike. I was so impressed with their obvious competency – they absolutely knew what they were doing. I was also impressed with their compassion and concern. This child was getting the best possible care.

I saw the ambulance crew at work at another time. I arrived home from an Iowa Valley meeting and saw a police car and a policeman in my front yard. He told me that a 99 year old female had fallen. That 99 year old was my mother. I went in the house and saw her on the floor. The ambulance personnel were surrounding her. I was literally sick to my stomach. But when I looked up, I saw Larry Thomas there. I really can’t explain it, but I felt so much better. I know Larry, and I realized that I knew others there. These were not strangers and because I knew them, I also knew my mom was in good hands – hands I trusted completely.

There are so many homes in this community who make that call, and the ambulance crew answers it. They answer the call any time of day or night. And even more amazingly, these people are volunteers. When they are on call and their pagers go off, they respond -they respond for all of us and any of us.

So what is the frightening situation? Only a handful of volunteers are available, and some of them are soon to retire. The ambulance service is in desperate need of help. With a larger pool of volunteers, the number of hours each volunteer is on call will be less, reducing the time commitment.

These folks have spent countless hours helping us. Now THEY need help in order to continue responding to our emergencies. People who make that call and see the ambulance arrive know – they know – they know this is a vital service that we cannot afford to lose.

Anne Michael

Tama