More Information
In honor of National EMS Week May 18-24, Green County EMS ambulances will be seen around town this week, EMS Chief Dan Nufer said. People can look for ambulance visits at local retail outlets during the week.
EMS personnel also will be at the Breakfast on the Farm from 6 to 10 a.m. May 31 with an ambulance. They will be offering free blood pressure testing and will be available to answer questions about becoming an EMT.
MONROE - Order a pizza and get a visit from an EMT?
This week, members of the Green County Emergency Medical Service will be giving local pizza delivery personnel a lift in an ambulance to reach out to potential EMS volunteers.
During pizza deliveries, GCEMS will keep one ambulance ready to respond to emergency calls. The second ambulance will take a pizza person around town to deliver pies. The pizza delivery person will be dropped off if the need arises for the second ambulance, GCEMS Chief Dan Nufer said.
GCEMS will be escorting deliveries from Bullet's on Thursday, May 22; Pizza Hut on Friday, May 23; Vince's on Saturday, May 24; and Suisse Haus on Wednesday, May 28.
EMS volunteers will go to the door with the delivery person and give customers an informational card with details about briefings scheduled for 5, 6 and 7 p.m. June 4 at the EMS building, located at 1821 12th St.
If people bring the card to a briefing session and listen to the presentation, they can put their name in a drawing for a television. If they are not interested in becoming an EMT, Nufer said, they are encouraged to give the card to someone who may be.
The organization is looking for both drivers and EMTs. Individuals must be 18 to become an EMT and 25 to drive an ambulance. More information is available online at www.greencountyems.org or by calling 329-4367.
"We're hoping to build up our numbers," Nufer said. "We're hoping to put at least 10 people in our fall EMT class."
The class will begin Aug. 23 and run from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every Saturday through the fall semester. After taking the class, students are eligible to take a national exam that allows them to get a state license.
The cost for the class is about $500, but GCEMS will pay for the class in exchange for one year of service as an EMT.
Keeping numbers up is key for the all-volunteer organization. GCEMS is a private, nonprofit entity which receives no tax money.
"We have to depend on the generosity of the community," Nufer said.
EMS is staffed 24 hours per day, seven days a week. GCEMS is required to have two EMTs available for calls, and prefers to have two EMTs and a driver. Ideally, Nufer said, there would be four people on call at all times.
But even meeting the minimum requirement can be difficult. GCEMS has 37 regular members and about another dozen provisional members, Nufer said. GCEMS has lost several people to relocation or other commitments, and now is seeking new faces to help fill those holes.
"A lot of the volunteers are putting in a tremendous amount of hours," Nufer said. "We're busy," responding to some 1,200 calls per year.
No prior medical training is needed to volunteer.
People do not have to live in Monroe to volunteer - some come from Janesville and Illinois. The EMS building offers overnight accommodations for people who live out of town or who can't get to the station in four minutes. The facility has showers, a full kitchen, television and even wireless Internet, he said.
Being an EMT is not all "blood and guts" as some people may think, Nufer said. Responding to accidents is a reality, but many times, calls are for falls, chest pains, transports from Monroe Clinic to a Madison hospital or elderly people who need a ride to the hospital or nursing home.
"We see everything," he said.
What volunteers can expect is the satisfaction of knowing they helped someone in pain.
"There's a tremendous sense of accomplishment when you take care of a patient," Nufer said, "and knowing you made a difference in their life."
This week, members of the Green County Emergency Medical Service will be giving local pizza delivery personnel a lift in an ambulance to reach out to potential EMS volunteers.
During pizza deliveries, GCEMS will keep one ambulance ready to respond to emergency calls. The second ambulance will take a pizza person around town to deliver pies. The pizza delivery person will be dropped off if the need arises for the second ambulance, GCEMS Chief Dan Nufer said.
GCEMS will be escorting deliveries from Bullet's on Thursday, May 22; Pizza Hut on Friday, May 23; Vince's on Saturday, May 24; and Suisse Haus on Wednesday, May 28.
EMS volunteers will go to the door with the delivery person and give customers an informational card with details about briefings scheduled for 5, 6 and 7 p.m. June 4 at the EMS building, located at 1821 12th St.
If people bring the card to a briefing session and listen to the presentation, they can put their name in a drawing for a television. If they are not interested in becoming an EMT, Nufer said, they are encouraged to give the card to someone who may be.
The organization is looking for both drivers and EMTs. Individuals must be 18 to become an EMT and 25 to drive an ambulance. More information is available online at www.greencountyems.org or by calling 329-4367.
"We're hoping to build up our numbers," Nufer said. "We're hoping to put at least 10 people in our fall EMT class."
The class will begin Aug. 23 and run from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every Saturday through the fall semester. After taking the class, students are eligible to take a national exam that allows them to get a state license.
The cost for the class is about $500, but GCEMS will pay for the class in exchange for one year of service as an EMT.
Keeping numbers up is key for the all-volunteer organization. GCEMS is a private, nonprofit entity which receives no tax money.
"We have to depend on the generosity of the community," Nufer said.
EMS is staffed 24 hours per day, seven days a week. GCEMS is required to have two EMTs available for calls, and prefers to have two EMTs and a driver. Ideally, Nufer said, there would be four people on call at all times.
But even meeting the minimum requirement can be difficult. GCEMS has 37 regular members and about another dozen provisional members, Nufer said. GCEMS has lost several people to relocation or other commitments, and now is seeking new faces to help fill those holes.
"A lot of the volunteers are putting in a tremendous amount of hours," Nufer said. "We're busy," responding to some 1,200 calls per year.
No prior medical training is needed to volunteer.
People do not have to live in Monroe to volunteer - some come from Janesville and Illinois. The EMS building offers overnight accommodations for people who live out of town or who can't get to the station in four minutes. The facility has showers, a full kitchen, television and even wireless Internet, he said.
Being an EMT is not all "blood and guts" as some people may think, Nufer said. Responding to accidents is a reality, but many times, calls are for falls, chest pains, transports from Monroe Clinic to a Madison hospital or elderly people who need a ride to the hospital or nursing home.
"We see everything," he said.
What volunteers can expect is the satisfaction of knowing they helped someone in pain.
"There's a tremendous sense of accomplishment when you take care of a patient," Nufer said, "and knowing you made a difference in their life."