Latest / Voices of the Albemarle / Ep. 24: Saving lives with Camden EMS

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Ep. 24: Saving lives with Camden EMS · Voices of the Albemarle

• 0:13
  SPEAKER_03: Hello and welcome back to Voices of the Album Marvel.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_03: I'm your host, Izzy Kelly Goss, and this is my co-host, David Prizer.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_02: I am not Izzy Kelly Goss.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_03: You are not your David Prizer.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_02: I am.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_03: And today we will be joined by two other people who are not Izzy Kelly Goss.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_03: We will be joined by Camden County EMS Chief Joe Zoller and Deputy Chief Caitlin Colson to talk about their operations.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_03: She did, yeah.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_03: She had one on her, yeah, she has one on her on her.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a deputy.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_03: She's deputy chief Caitlin Colson and Chief Joe Zoller, they're gonna be here to talk about their operations one year into branching off from the Pasquatink Camden emergency.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_03: That may be how we refer to you from now on.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: Podcast D.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_03: But first, Spain has officially won the 2026 Men's World Cup with a one-nil score against Argentina.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_02: Reminding everybody that real football is right around the corner.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_03: In Spain?
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: Thank God.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_03: Right around the corner in Spain.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_02: What was the score of the game?
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_03: I just said that.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_03: One nil.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_02: But what's on our listening ears?
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_02: What does nil mean?
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: Zero.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_02: So after how long?
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_03: After you're taking all of my all of my after how long did the game last year.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_03: My gosh, you're taking all of my points.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_03: The final game played in the New York, New Jersey arena and lasted the full 90 minutes before going into the two 15-minute overtime periods.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_02: It took them 90 minutes to score zero.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_03: No, it took them 100 and score one goal.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: They couldn't score one goal in 90 minutes.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_03: In 105.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_03: And uh obviously Leonel Messi is Leonel Messi, is the kind of like the star player of Argentina.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_03: There's a lot of great players on both teams.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_03: But for anybody that does not know, there is a photograph of Lionel Messi giving uh Lamin Yamall a bath when he's like a baby.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_03: I don't want to like a magazine.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_02: I don't want to okay.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_02: No, we've got a support that A, nobody can score the goals, B, nobody can pronounce the names of these people.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_02: Pronounce both of those.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_02: C they're all just hanging out together, taking baths and all that kind of stuff.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_02: What kind of support is that?
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_03: No.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_03: You know what?
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_03: On that note, we're not even gonna continue this.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna move on.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_03: Um, cases of the parasitic infection, cyclosporiasis.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_03: C Zpeaking of can't pronounce things, are on the rise in North Carolina.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_02: According to without looking, could you spell that please?
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_03: C Y C L O S P O R I A I S I S.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_02: You see, if it's a really serious disease.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: Do I win the spelling B?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_02: If it's a real such a real serious disease, by the time you finish spelling it, you can be dead.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: Well, actually, there have been more than 300 cases in North Carolina, according to the North Carolina Department of Human Health Services, since May 1st.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_03: 14 of them have resulted in hospitalization.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_03: Uh Pitt County Health Department Communicable Disease Supervisor Brittany Kinder recommends practicing extra caution with food safety, which is where it's mostly transmitted from, and washing hands well and often.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_02: As opposed to never.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, like most men I know.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_03: Finally, Joey Chestnut successfully in the old days.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_02: He used to beat their hands on a rock.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_03: Joey Chestnut, you would know, wouldn't you?
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_03: You were there.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: That's why my hands are like there.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_03: Joey Chestnut successfully defended his title on the July 4th as the world hot dog eating champion.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_02: How many?
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_03: He ate 66 hot dogs in just minutes.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_02: He's the world record of 71.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_02: He is he's he's such a slouch.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_03: Is that not his world record though?
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't, but he can't he can't he's 76, 71 or whatever the number.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_03: But he only needed the 66 to win.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_03: So he ate them in 10 minutes.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_03: I would like to see you try that.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_02: Whatever happened, they're really trying to achieve excellence.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_03: Well, this was his 18th win, so I'd say that's pretty excellent, if you ask me.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_02: On that note, 15 times.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_03: I think we're gonna.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: It's a lot of hot dogs.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_03: It's a lot of hot dogs.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_03: That's what I was saying.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_03: I think we're gonna head on over to our interview with Chief Zoller and Deputy Chief Colson.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_03: Hello again.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_03: Welcome to Voices of the Abomarle.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_03: We are joined with EMS Chief Joe Zoller and Deputy Chief Caitlin Colson from Camden County's Emergency Services Department.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you guys so much for joining us.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_03: I'm so excited to have you on and talk about the the great things you do for the community.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so just to start us off, uh if if you could both say hi, just so everybody knows your voices.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, Joe Zoller.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: I'm the chief of Camden County EMS.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_03: And Caitlin Colson, deputy chief.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_03: Excellent, thank you.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, I should hope that they would be able to distinguish between the two, but just in case, just for my own personal satisfaction.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_02: Joe is taller.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_02: Joe is I don't know.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_03: You guys might be, yeah.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_03: But just to start us off, I would love to hear a little bit about both of your backgrounds and what led you to taking the jobs with Camden's EMS department.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: I'll start off.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um I started in 2003 uh with a volunteer fire department.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: They made me go get a medical responder, EMT.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: I asked, what's the difference?
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: They said with EMT, you never have to take the certification test again.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: I said, that's the one for me.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um fast forward a little bit, worked in Buffalo, New York for uh about four to five years, joined the military where I uh bounced around between.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: Were you doing the same thing in Buffalo?
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was working in EMS.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I was just an EMT and an advanced EMT in Buffalo.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it was a busy system, a lot of calls, not a great amount of benefits.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: So that's uh another added plus of moving to North Carolina.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um served in the military for a little over four years, active duty, um, got stationed in Norfolk and uh ended up getting out of the military after the four years, went to Gates County, rescue an EMS, and uh served as their deputy chief for a couple years and helped their department go to 24-hour paid and also from advanced EMT to paramedic, which kind of gave me a lot of the confidence to be able to start my own system.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, left there and went to Kuratuck and spent around 10 years there.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I also spent a couple years at the high school teaching teaching EMT, and I've been at the college teaching EMS for around 10 years now.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_03: Oh that's great.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_03: You have actually a lot more, a much larger, longer history than I thought.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_03: You seem a lot younger than that.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_03: Either you started out really young.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's the gray hairs now that are uh convincing me that I've been doing this for a long time.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_03: And then Caitlin, what what was what is your background?
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_03: How did you end up here?
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: So mine's not as cool of a story, but I graduated high school in 2006 and did not know what I wanted to do.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: And my best friend at the time said, Hey, I'm gonna take this EMT class.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, All right, let's go.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so got my EMT in 2007, I believe, and progressed through the different pathways EMT, EMT, and paramedic.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, kind of the ending of Chiefs mine is a little bit similar.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I've worked in different agencies, Chowan for Quemens.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I helped their agency go from AMT to paramedic as well.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: Supervisor there for a little bit, left and went and taught at Curry Tuck High School for their EMT program.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, left there and went to do training officer at Curry Tuck uh EMS and then to Camden.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I've been doing this about 18, 20-ish years and just been loving it.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_03: And somewhere along the way, you both uh took the potion of youth, I think.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_03: I was five years old in 2006.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, goodness.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_03: So I really kind of thought you were gonna be a little bit closer to my age.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_03: You guys both seem so youthful.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_03: It's the good and it's the good in the heart, right?
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um, given what you guys do.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_03: Uh but just to kind of go back to what you said about gave you the confidence to start your own program, I would love to dive into that.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_03: Camden County made the decision to branch off and and start their own EMS department in December of 2023.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_03: And then you were brought on as chief in June of 2024.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_03: So you just finished second your second year, and uh the department was fully operational in February of 2025.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_03: What went into the seven months from the time you began to when you guys officially kicked things off?
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_03: How what was that like for you?
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: As the county manager jokes with me, uh, a lot of spreadsheets, a lot of analytical um reviewing the data and kind of just preparing.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of state-level things that you have to do, like get the system plan to get the agency license.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: There's a whole lot of policies and procedures that have to be done with that to get like a drug uh DEA control license and all of the permittings really was the first several months of the system.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: And then it was okay, we've got our trucks in.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: I think we got our trucks on the third of July or fourth of July of 2024.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then it basically became, hey, let's buy all the stuff and start stocking it.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: And uh it was box after box after box for several months, and then we finally got it all collected and it said, All right, it's time to shove all these on the truck.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: And that was the true moment where it was like, This is this is real.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like before that, it was planning, but when we had the state come in and inspect our trucks, it's like really we're not missing anything now.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: And that was the the real moment for me.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_02: Can I join Caitlin?
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_02: Can I ask you something?
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't didn't mean to abridge this, but let's say I I don't live in Camden.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, but let's say I live in Camden.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: What does it mean to me, living in Camden, to have my own EMS system, my own EMS personnel, a chief and a deputy.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_02: What what does it mean to me as a resident?
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: So I I feel like it it has value within the system.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: The taxpayers are funding the program.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: We are responsible to report to the commissioners, to the county manager, to the citizens about that service delivery.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: You have a have your own dedicated service, you have your own voice in kind of the emergency response.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know, obviously, if we're requesting things, um they can go to the, we have to go to the advisory board, which is a group of one citizen, uh, the two fire chiefs, the sheriff, a citizen who was appointed, myself and the county manager.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: And we present things to that.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: Once we get approval from that, then we can take it to the board of commissioners.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: So really those people that want a voice in their EMS system and want, you know, responsibility and uh accountability in their EMS system, it it starts with there.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: But to have a resource that's dedicated to Camden, um if if hypothetically we we all were one big um Northeast regional ambulance, you know, you could kind of float those throughout the counties, but to have something that's dedicated that we're responsible and is in the county 24-7, that's kind of the value behind that having a dedicated EMS system.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so you're you're you're talking about a lot of business and fiscal things.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_02: And and I understand that, and and you're right.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_02: Do I get a a better sense of security and safety?
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_02: That's what I would have thought.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, uh I wouldn't think that.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not disagreeing with you.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: I just that that's I would hope that the citizens having their own system and having dedicated ambulances to that county would give a sense of ownership and knowing that that resource is available for them.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_03: And then Caitlin, um, how did you end up uh becoming the deputy chief of Camden?
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I was in Curry Tuck as a training officer.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um position came open and I applied and went through an interview process, which I'm so nervous.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know, interviews make me nervous, but uh think everybody gets nervous for them, but interviewed and got the position.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_03: And this is kind of for both of you.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_03: Have either of you ever it doesn't sound like it just from the brief history you've given me, but have either of you ever, you know, been with a brand new department?
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_03: And if not, like what kind of thought excited you about the prospect of that that led you to to interviewing for these jobs?
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: I've never been part of a brand new department, um, but similar to Chief, taking a department from one level of care to the next level.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you learn certain things and pick certain things up.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I do feel like that has helped me in that sp in this position.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: I was excited because I have worked in several departments.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Every department has their goods and their bads, and I was able to pick up both of those things and say, this is when I want to apply this department.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: This is what I want to see.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: I've heard people say their wants, their needs, and I want to be able to honor that and do the best that I can for you know them and the county.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna echo that also.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because basically I I feel like our philosophy of building something new and right is really our goal to you know put our our patients first, our staff are equally important, you know, being able to deliver that high quality level of care and just to start fresh.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_03: And then you guys are over a year in now.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_03: What what has that been like for you and what's like the biggest thing that you've learned?
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: Everything is a lesson.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: Everything.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_03: That's understandable.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: In the terms of one chief, it they're either a lesson or a blessing.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so there's there's been a few lessons, we've had a few blessings, but it's just overcoming those blessings and turning them into lessons and doing the right thing.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: Caitlin, you know, just continuing what we started, um what we want to see happen, and just making sure that we're providing the service that we promised and that we keep building on it.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, same thing with the community paramedicine program.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that was something that we talked about at the very beginning, and the fact that it's already happening to me is amazing.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but we're achieving those goals.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_03: And that's uh a great segue into my next question.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you guys did recently receive nearly$300,000 in a grant to help start the community paramedicine program.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_03: Uh the commissioners have already approved it.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_03: The program should be starting soon.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_03: Tell me more about the grant and what that program is going to look like for you guys.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: So that was kicked out um by the Office of EMS.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: Really quick turnaround.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: We were able to get everything bundled, letters of support from the hospital, from Sentera, from our health department, our sheriffs, um, several other departments that would help collaborate and have interest in this project.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we submitted it with our our implementation timeline, our forecasted budget.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: And that budget is every single expense associated to that position.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's not just the salaries, it's just not equipment, it's literally everything.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I feel like when we started, we had the goal of starting a community paramedicine program.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: We we just kept, we're not ready.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: We we need to focus on getting our current staff over the obstacles and potholes.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um and we're ready now.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: And we hope to get human resources to advertise the position and start recruitment for that pretty soon with the goal of first part of the year, hopefully having that community paramedic responding to those non-emergent uh partnering in healthcare.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, right.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_03: And just for those who haven't read my article, my article is in the Daily Advance.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_03: If you guys want to give that a read, it's on our website and it was in our recent print edition.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um, can you guys explain a little bit about what that community paramedicine program is going to look like?
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_03: And kind of like David's question, what's that going to be like for the citizens of Camden?
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: So one of the biggest things that I am really looking forward to.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: So you know, Camden does not have a hospital.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the closest one is Sintera Almoral, and then you have Chesapeake.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: So our population is a little bit older, and so having that access to that care outside of emergent needs.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody gets discharged from the hospital and they get a diagnosis or they get medications.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: Some of these residents do not have the ability to either follow up with that care, understand it, make sure that they're taking their meds um appropriately.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so to me, that's one of the biggest things that we will be able to apply is that that help that they don't get outside of calling 911 or having home health or having, you know, doctor's appointments.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: I just think that's going to be a huge improvement.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_03: And through like, you know, education and and you guys are doing house calls, is that right, occasionally when people, when people need them to help um like follow up and ensure that people are, like you said, taking their medicine appropriately.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_03: That'll be one of the goals, yes.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_03: That's going to in in theory help reduce the amount of 911 calls you guys get.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_03: I think that's great.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_03: That's an amazing program.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_02: One of the one thing that that that I've I've learned through some of this research with first responders and and EMS is that um as you get more established, the community embraces you or doesn't embrace you, depending on your level of service.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_02: Let's say your level of service is as as as advertised, you then become an attribute to the community.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_02: You're absolutely you're actually contributing to the reason why people might want to come to Camden.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: You become an asset to Camden.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_02: Another reason that I might want to live there.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_02: You mentioned your can you're your the residents are older.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_02: Well, this should give them a little more sense of security once you're once you're fully established.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_02: And and I can all honestly see how that would give people who are want to move there, want to live there, want to stay there, a feeling that they're better well taken care of than instead of having to go further out for a hospital.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_02: And you mentioned watching to make sure that they're taking their medicines and things like that.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_02: I know you're not making regular house calls and all that kind of stuff.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_02: But it's it's care.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_02: It's care that wasn't that quick that might not have been there and other otherwise.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I I can see that as a great attribute.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's a it's a healthcare resource.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: And it it can evolve or it can cater or be tailored to the specific needs of that individual.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: If law enforcement, department of social services, health department, even a doctor's office sees that kind of need, or especially if it's if it's identified in a 911 call, that's a great follow-up to be able to get those resources or to be able to help that person prevent a hospital uh visit.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_03: So kind of jumping ahead, what is the most common but like preventable emergency you guys see?
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_03: And and what do you wish people knew about preventing it?
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: Probably say falls.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: I was gonna say the same thing.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's falls.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um really, it's just it's being more aware of your situation.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's you know, it's the carpeted floor with the um with the area rug that we see they're tripping over a lot, or just the hazards being um forgetful and leaving things in the hallway.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um obviously the weather related, it's wet and slippery, or it's icy and slippery.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I I feel like the preventable falls are a lot of it.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: But then we've also got some medical conditions that are causing, you know, dizziness, lightheadedness that contribute to that fall category.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_03: Hopefully that paramedicine program will help bridge that gap.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_02: And bubble wrap will help too.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_03: Should I come over and start bubble wrapping your house, David?
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_03: For those who don't know, David just had his birthday recently.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_03: I did too.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_03: Anyways, um, so obviously we've kind of heard a little bit about what kind of got you both into emergency medicine, but what about it is so rewarding to you guys that you both have these lifelong careers?
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: I would say it's making a meaningful impact on somebody's life.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: That could be the emergency where they're having a major hemorrhage all the way to somebody who fell and is having pain and is scared to be able to make those bad days better days to take away maybe a little bit of the pain, but to provide a lot of comfort.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: Caitlin, yeah.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'll definitely agree with that.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um they say the I guess the lifespan is the appropriate term for somebody in EMS is usually around three to five years.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um that that can be contributed to just burnout, it could be injuries, multiple factors.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but when you're in class, you are taught all these, you know, traumas and heart attacks, and that's the least amount that we actually go to.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: We go to a lot of the falls, the um sick calls grandma's not feeling well.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, you have to be mentally prepared for that too, because you go from one aspect from an emergent to now you're taking care of somebody's grandmother.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, those factors of care I think mean something because at one point you are just full on, and the second you're you're there as a comforting measure.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so just getting that feedback and that time with patients to me, I guess, is what keeps me going.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: I do miss a truck.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: I still try to ride ride calls now, but right, you know, that's it's a little bit different now.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it is.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, absolutely.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_03: How many people are on your team?
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: We have around 40 staff.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: 40?
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, wow.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: Twenty-eight off the top of my head, full timers, and the rest are part timers.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it takes a it takes a team to run the 24 hour service seven days a week, 365 days a year.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: If if you don't mind, I'll take a moment and kind of just talk about.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: How we're set up.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: So we've got the ambulance up in South Mills at the South Mills Fire Station.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: They are staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: We've got another 24-hour truck down at the Shiloh Fire Department.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: And then in the middle of the county, we've got a supervisor who's staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week in a paramedic level quick response vehicle.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then we have a 12-hour ambulance in that Camden Courthouse area that is staffed from 7 a.m.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: to 7 p.m.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_03: Wow, that's amazing.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_03: So you guys really have like this fully fledged operation.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_03: And I mean, obviously, it's it's a whole department, and that was the purpose of branching off, being able to have that fully fledged service.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um you know, for the past not three quarters of a year, we have uh sponsored along with Park Ziegler, the law firm, is uh it's a co-sponsor of River City Heroes, and uh it's honoring first responders.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_02: Now this is me.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_02: When for somebody mentioned first responders before I really got into this, you know, it's the firemen, policemen, and all that kind of stuff.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_02: The EMS community um jumped out because I was unaware of it, and I started to learn a lot more.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_02: And and there is just as much first responderish, you know, demeanor with you as there is with any fireman, any any policeman.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um and so I think people and citizens really need to remember that that you are a first responder.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_02: You're risk you are literally responding without without an attitude, without bias.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's the emergency and you're there.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_02: And it can be somebody's grandmother.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_02: It can be something that's benign, but it also can be something rather significant.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_02: And people really need to remember that.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I I hats off to you.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_02: I'd uh we're we're holding another celebration for one, uh, two of them happen to be tonight.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and my hat's off to you guys.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_02: It's just what you do, it's it's it's second to none.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I a great deal of respect, and I'm humbled by everything that you do.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: No, I agree with that.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people don't understand the time and energy it takes to, you know, go through the courses.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but you know, their perception, you get called ambulance drivers a lot, um, but their perception is that we put the patient in the back and we just go to the hospital.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: They don't understand our scope and what we can actually do to treat that patient prior to getting to the hospital.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, I think people are becoming more aware, but that's what one of the things Camden does, is we do a lot of public outreach, a lot of standbys and get out into the community so we can make them aware, hey, number one, we're here, but you know, this is what we do.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: This is what we're gonna do if we have to come to you in an emergency.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: You guys do actually do a lot of community outreach.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_03: You were at the Camden County Fourth of July celebration.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_03: I saw you guys out there.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_03: You had water, which is great.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_03: Nobody wants to stop in the middle of the celebration to take someone to the hospital for heat strokes.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_03: So it was very hot out there.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I think it's really great to see you guys out in the community.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um, reflecting on the past year and kind of looking towards the future, I think you guys have a really bright future ahead of you with a lot of longevity in your department.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_03: But what's a change or a growth that you guys are looking forward to outside of the community paramedicine?
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but what's one that you're looking forward to or hope to see sometime in the future?
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: I have a goal of trying to be involved in the community, even beyond the community paramedic.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like that's just the tip of the spear, but to get more involvement, um, more education, more prevention.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's been on our to-do list to get out and do community CPR AED awareness and to be able to offer that out.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: And hopefully we'll be getting those public classes started.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: We kind of went through all the county staff, got all the county staff all up to date.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, last class is on Friday, I think.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: And we're we've got classes with the sheriff's office um next week.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: And then we're gonna start branching that out into offering it, say, at the library once a quarter, free of charge.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: Come on in, learn your CPR, learn your CPR awareness, getting into those churches would be the next priority of those um congregations of larger groups of people and focus on that education and prevention aspect of it also.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_03: That's amazing.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_03: It sounds like you guys are doing a lot of really good work.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_03: Um jumping back to the community paramedicine, you said that you guys are hoping to list that position soon for that community paramedic.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_03: What are you guys looking for?
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_03: What can we expect from that listing?
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's gonna be either an advanced EMT or a paramedic.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we're just looking for somebody who hopefully has had some experience starting.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_01: If not, we can obviously send them to the right classes because inside of that grant is also a lot of training money to be able to get those resources for somebody who may not be as familiar with being in charge of a mobile integrated healthcare community paramedicine program.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, beyond that is just basically standard job description for a paramedic or an AEMT, but with the focus on being that healthcare partner instead of just that emergency responder.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: But they will be able to do both.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: They'll have the equipment on the trucks to be able to respond as a first responder.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_02: That's fascinating, though, the partnership thing.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_02: You mentioned um three years is the average uh lifespan.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_00: So they change it, but it's around three to five years lifespan.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_02: Well, she said.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: I said I don't know that's the right term.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of people are also going into other health-related code.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: I see.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: I see.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: They'll use they'll use EMS as a stepping stone for perhaps like I'm gonna go get an EMT and then go become a physician assistant nurse practitioner, or go the RN route, or um, you know, end up in a doctor's office.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, okay.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: So more EMS positions are becoming available outside of an ambulance.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_02: Oh.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_02: Fascinating.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_02: This is sounds stupid.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_02: The more I learn about this, the more I realize I didn't know.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_03: My best friend in Salt Lake City is um, she's a licensed EMT, but she works as a medical assistant in in a hospital there.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: Good gosh.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_03: That's so becoming more and more common.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, training, absolutely.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um, thank you guys so much for joining us.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we really, really appreciate it.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much for all the good work you do for our community, and I look forward to seeing what you guys do next.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you very much for what you do.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I'm serious about that.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_02: I've learned so much about um first responders and EMS, and I have a great deal of respect for you.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for having us.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_03: And thank you so much to all of our listeners.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_03: Please stay tuned for another episode coming soon.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_03: And be sure to check out all of our previous episodes.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_03: We have, including this one, 24 episodes out, and they are ready and available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Buzz Sprout.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, you can also find them uh lick uh with the link at the top of our website at dailyadvance.com.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much.