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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 4, 1980)
Page 12 THE BATTALION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1980 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1980 ^ CS opposes hot rod A&M ambulance p( from page 1 voiced at that time, he said. At a second meeting, Goswick said. College Station Fire Chief Douglas Landua came and “re- questwd that the campus ambulance not be used for emergency calls in the city of College Station. Goswick said he was surprised at the request, but agreed to honor it because he felt that service to on- campus students might be jeopar dized otherwise. “They could make it difficult for us,” Goswick said, “Who knows but what they might have said we couldn’t run into their city at all?” Goswick said he was afraid city officials would try to prevent the uni versity ambulance from even run ning through College Station to get to Bryan hospitals. The main campus of Texas A&M is surrounded by Col lege Station. At present, the university ambu lance can travel through the city to reach calls out of the city limits or to go to Bryan hospitals. Goswick and Borron said Chief Landua told them the reason for the request was because the university ambulance would be taking away 20 percent of College Station’s ambu lance runs by answering on-campus calls, and if allowed to service off- campus students, another 20 per cent of their calls would go to the university ambulance. Borron said they wejre told that USED this would lead to a drop in revenue, causing them to have less justifica tion to the city for more funds to improve services as well as a drop in morale of the firefighter/EMT’s be cause of the decreased number of calls. Landua and several other city offi cials have insisted that money doesn’t concern them, citing that the College Station ambulance service operates at a deficit. When asked about the 20 percent figures, Landua said, “That might have been a rough estimate.” He said the on-campus calls for 1979 actually made up 12 percent of the city’s total calls, and he had “no idea” how many calls were made to off-campus students. Landua said no record is made of whether patients transported from the city are students or not. Borron said he was upset that the figures presented to them were not based on real percentages since much of the university’s decision to honor the fire department’s request was because they did not want to GOLD WANTED! Cash Paid. diamond brokers international, inc. 693-1647 LSAT• MCAT• GRE GRE PSYCH • GRE BIO GMAT • DAT • OCAT • PCAT VAT • MAT • SAT NAT L MED BDS ECFMG • FLEX • VQE NDB • NPB I • NLE KAPLAN EDUCATIONAL CENTER Test Preparation Specialists Since 1938 SATURDAYCLASSES LESSON #1 MAKE-UP LECTURE TONIGHT CALL FOR DETAILS 696-3196 (Wedn. classes start Feb. 6) (In Dallas 11617 N. Cent. Expy.) take away so much of the fire depart ment’s revenue. Bill Schaer, ambulance coordina tor for the College Station Fire De partment, said the agreement con sists of these provisions: y tne University health center is to notify the College Station Fire Department by letter when the uni versity ambulance is ready to go into full-service operation; then, 7 all campus calls (emergency and non-emergency) will be referred to the health center; the fire depart ment will continue to answer all calls until the letter has been received. / the University Health Center is to notify the College Station Fire Department of all off-campus emergency calls in the city and is not permitted to respond to these calls. / the university ambulance will be permitted to run through the city of College Station using lights and siren to answer emergency calls in Bryan, at other university property, or at locations outside College Sta tion city limits, provided the College Station Fire Department is notified. / the university ambulance will be permitted to make non emergency (transfer) runs to stu dents in College Station who need a ride to the health center, doctor’s office, or clinic. y the university ambulance may be used for emergency transfers from the health center to Bryan hos pitals. y the university ambulance will serve as a back-up emergency vehi cle if all College Station ambulances are in use; and the city ambulances will back up the university if neces sary. ■ •r 1 t c-k.'-u - , Afraid you are missing something? - • v.V. v '-C ■' •' - * ' PW..P- V. -• - * Join MSC Cepheid Variable Wed. Feb. 6, 8 p.m. 308 Rudder Tower Landua said he has received a let ter from the health center notifying the fire department that the univer sity ambulance is in service and he has notified the city manager of the policy change. Campus calls are now being re layed to the university ambulance service, Landua said. But the agreement between the University and the fire department is not the only thing standing in the way of the off-campus students being served by the university ambulance. A new ambulance ordinance pas sed by the city council in December abolished Texas A&Vl’s previous ex emption from city regulation, leav ing the university ambulance service dependent on the city council for permission to operate on the city streets. College Station City Councilman James Dozier said the ordinance “was not meant to discriminate against students,” and said that it was a coincidence that it was prop osed and passed shortly after the uni versity ambulance was purchased. Chief Landua, who co-authored the ordinance with Bill Schaer, said it was just “bad timing” that the ordi nance was passed when the universi ty was ready to operate its ambu lance. The new ordinance increases the training required for ambulance per sonnel from Red Cross First Aid cer tification to Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training. EMTs are required to have 120 hours of medical training for certifi cation; 80 hours of work (ambulance) experience and 40 hours of hospital work. Ambulance coordinator Bill Schaer said the university ambu lance service would be eligible to apply for a permit if they meet all requirements of the ordinance and if the city council approved the appli cation. Borron said the university ambu lance meets all the specifications “and more and they are looking into the possibility of getting a permit to operate as a full-service vehicle in the city of College Station. However the prospect of actually being granted a permit does not look good since several city councilmen and the mayor are adamantly opposed to allowing the university ambulance to function for emergen cy calls in the city limits. Councilman Gary Halter said, “We have no control over a volun tary student organization, and we don’t want them running an ambu lance service.” Halter later referred to the TAMECT members as students who were “running around trying to play EMT, and like the campus sailing club he sponsored, TAMECT was bound to lapse into periodic inactiv ity because “that’s what happens fo all student organizations.” Councilman Larry Ringer was also opposed to the idea. “We can’t have hot rodders run ning around,” Ringer said. Steve Borron, TAMECT squad leader, said his organization was one of dedicated individuals who were interested and devoted to providing quality care to all students. Borron said the university ambu lance service is able to meet all city standards and would comply with all speed limit and safety regulations re quired by the ordinance. TAMECT is a volunteer organiza tion made up of more than 80 indi viduals who are interested in emergency medical care, Borron said, and its members operate the university ambulance. Borron, who is a paramedic, said many of the members of the team are EMTs, many of whom have been trained through the university, and others have Emergency Care Atten dant (EGA) training or first aid certi fication. TAMECT also has two paramedic trainees and one EMT with IV skills, Borron said. “There’s always one EMT on duty, and the other will be at least EGA or first aid trained,” Borron said. “The most qualified person is al ways in the hack (with the patient),” Borron said. Borron said that since its begin ning in 1976, TAMECT has grown steadily from about 15 members to more than 80. No problems with scheduling ambulance crews have arisen, “even during the first two weeks of school when no one knew what their sche dule was,” Borron said. Bill Schaer, ambulance coordina tor for College Station, said all of the city’s firefighters are also EMTs and some had been trained through the university’s program. Schaer said the fire department had one EMT with IV skills, but no paramedics. Bryan ambulance coordinator, David Turek, said their fire depart ment looked at the university ambu lance as “a substation of our depart ment” and said he felt the university had a good program. College Station officials are con cerned that “safety problems will arise in cases where a city and the university ambulance respond to the same call. College Station Fire Chief Landua said his department radios calls to Bryan if an emergency is called in to the wrong city, but said relaying calls to the university would cause too much of a delay in emergency situa tions. Borron said the university ambu- MSC OVERSEAS LOAN FUND NOW AVAILABLE! Applications from 216 MSC — Secretary’s Desk Sign up Feb. 7-14 Interviews Feb. 9 & 10 Funds are available for TAMU France, Spain, Germany (May 28-June 9); Landscape Architecture, Environmental Design, European Stu dies, and other overseas work, study, or travel experiences planned by A&M students. For More Info Call MSC Travel at 845-1515 l.S:A 7" Ml 8 • # soccer* • All students interested in becoming active members of the I.S.A.’s newly formed SOCCER-TEAM TO PLAY IN B.V.A.S.L. please contact Bryce Simmang 846-9490 before February 5th liiii PAPERBACK BOOK SALE Several hundred assorted titles All only 500 each SALE BEGINS WEDNESDAY, IAN. 30th P By! lance is equipped with a “ptrj patch system which allows them communicate with anyone whoLj telephone, including the vario«sh( departments. Landua also said the univeiJ ambulance would not be able to® streets and apartments as i the city ambulances could I the city had large maps of each fersurj tion of the city and they could’ ulk t lot directions to their drivers 00 Jr, sopl way. , .3;®oad Bryan Fire Department offisBing solved this problem for the uni. jfsity. ty ambulance service where M Patters city is concerned — they gau t be health center copies of their Was! six: maps. 7;® ve[ College Station officials say dee for I their concerns is that the unh : id the si ambulance service might tr ulk t fi answer students calls that woolJiB. quire too long a response time, Tlu’ii; Borron said this is not the at Bed 0 He said if they received a a! ante It felt one of the other services difa P) respond more quickly theywoulojhad 1 lay the call. At tht “If we got a call out at theAr .pc, 5,1 on H ighway 21 — say if someone A bleeding to death — we would" hesitate to call Bryan they’re 15 minutes closer, said. College Station FireChiefL said one reason for his decisionm allow the university ambulancel vice to answer off-campus emeijl cy calls was to cut down response runs — having twod vices answer the same call. Borron said dual response* not he a problem with rad»| phone-patch communication 1 terns operating. David Turek, Bryan ambi coordinator, said, “The overall pose of the service is to providi best emergency medical service sible, and if their ambulancecari/ there quicker than ours, thenf patient is getting better senitt I “If we respond to a call and* that the university ambulamvl already there, we ll just turnanuL and go home — we re notha@| over who picks up the patient,! concerned with quality service Turek later added that if any« policy was used, then they wouUI playing politics with someoned life.” ALTERATIONS 1 IN THE-GRAND TRADITION fclDifdkXf wHEFft 4ao<rH TAUGHT DAUGHTER THE FINE ART OF SEWING — SO HELEN MARIE TAUGHT EDITH MARIE THE SECRETS OF SEWING AND ALTERATIONS &. • DON'T GIVE UP — WE LL MAKE IT FIT!" AT WELCH ’S CLEANERS. WE Iff,I ONLY SERVE AS AN EXCELLffl DRY CLEANERS BUT WE SPlT CIALIZE IN ALTERING HARDUl FIT EVENING DRESSES, TAPES ■ SHIRTS, JEAN HEMS, WATC-,x, r fT POCKETS. ETC , rs sh (WE'RE JUST A FEW Itripl BLOCKS NORTH OFFEOlups. MART.) 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