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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2016-07-20, Page 5Wednesday, July 20, 2016 • Huron Expositor 5 www.seaforthhuronexpositor.com I love watching baseball, especially if Toronto's playing CONTINUED FROM > PAGE 4 But for the past few years I have followed the Jays avidly. I think that it is because of the different skills required that I have gained interest. Pitchers have various kinds of pitches, all deter- mined by the various grips that they hold on the base- ball, and arm speed and deception. The strategy to get each batter out intrigues me. And batters have vari- ous kinds of swings, some for power, some for aver- age and some have letters to the editor developed an ability to hit to various parts of the field so that they cannot be easily defended. And each position on the field requires some- what of a different skill set. Outfielders need speed and an ability to gauge where a ball is in the air. The middle infielders have to know instinctively whether to go to their right or left and when to cover the base and the shortstop espe- cially requires a lightning strong arm. I ache each time I see Who will draw the shortest straw? To the Editor, In response to Huron County councillors' deci- sion to eliminate the Advanced Care Paramedic (ACP) program (that has been in operation for over 10 years), there are a few notes of interest that I would like my fellow citi- zens to be aware of. Allow me to give you an overview of the difference between an ACP and Pri- mary Care Paramedic (PCP). A PCP can perform many emergency proce- dures and an ACP can per- form more emergency pro- cedures than a PCP, plus they can administer quali- fied narcotics for pain relief, fast/slow heart rate, sei- zures, etc. Generally speak- ing, the back of an ambu- lance is an emergency room on wheels under very adverse surroundings. This topic of eliminating the ACP program has been debated in the county chambers for the last few weeks and voted on by the councillors to obliterate this program at its July 6 monthly meeting. Sur- prised? So were all of the Huron County paramedics! The lack of information that was presented to our coun- cillors was inaccurate, incomplete and insufficient! The Mayor of Huron East stated in the Goderich Sig- nal Star that by eliminating ACPs it would enable more PCPs to be used on the road and decrease response time. So, let me think about this. Fourteen ACPs will be eliminated and replaced with 14 PCPs and the response time would be less, how? Paramedics (both ACP and PCP) cannot predict their response time no more than a fireman can foresee a barn fire or a police officer predict an accident, The Huron County Para- medic Service has a strict policy that the paramedics are on the road and responding within 90 the catcher squat down as I think of my aging knees and how I often think 'what else can I do while I am down here' when I squat. And the catcher is like the quarterback in a football game - he guides the pitcher in the type of pitch and location, relying upon the pitcher's 'stuff' on any given day and making adjustments accordingly. So last week with a number of the Jays play- ers that went to the all star game, I watched very closely to see how they seconds of receiving the call from their dispatch. Depending on the locality of the ambulance and crew, they are usually on scene within 10 to 15 minutes maximum. Also, the extra cost of placing another fully staffed ambulance with a PCP crew would cost more than the present ACP/PCP crew. Currently, Huron County has a full staff of completely qualified PCPs with a smaller staff of ACPs to complement them. The paramedic management has strategi- cally placed ACPs around the county from the indi- vidual bases. It was also stated at this same meet- ing of the minds that there is no guarantee that an ACP will be on every call, but two things: every crew is in contact with dispatch and if the need of an ACP is required, the ACP is dispatched imme- diately after the initial responding crew. If the first crew arrives at the Local concerned about council expenditures I am not in the habit of criticizing the work of our Municipal politicians, but I must disagree with a recent decision that was reported in this paper on May 11, 2016 since then I have been hoping to see a retraction but there has been none. The matter has to do with the refurbishing of the Sea - forth water tower, at a pro- jected cost of about $250,000. I have no problem with that, as necessary maintenance and upgrading must be done. My complaint is with spending an addi- tional $15,000 to have the Huron East Crest painted on the tower. The structure now says "Seaforth,' and to my mind, that should suffice. If counsel has an extra $15,000 lying around, I am sure the amount could be used more wisely. Our Hos- pital would probably wel- come that money, or per- haps it could go towards acquit themselves, hoping that the American League team would win which they did, so now they get home field advantage for the World Series - because this year I am hoping that the Blue Jays will be there. As we [my wife and I] have watched the Jays these past few years, we can see that they have really been gelling as a team for the past number of weeks. Instead of trying to be heroes in every at bat, they are 'moving the line along' and in doing scene and clearly an ACP is needed, they notify dis- patch immediately. Because of council's deci- sion, the chance of an ACP being dispatched has gone to zero. As a taxpayer, I can appreciate the higher level of care we have been receiv- ing and I cannot see any reason of lowering it to match other counties such as Perth, Oxford, Grey or Bruce, which was also men- tioned at this same meet- ing. It was not mentioned that both Lambton and Middlesex counties have ACPs. It is also my under- standing that 50 per cent of the cost of managing a par- amedic/ambulance service is funded by the Ministry of Health. I am pleading to the citi- zens of Huron County not to be bullied by elected offi- cials and to collect all of the facts of this matter and then contact your councillor to have this decision revisited and reversed as soon as possible. Street upgrading. For instance, the little street called Silver Creek Terrance is not even paved. I don't live on it, nor do I know any- one who resides there, but I am sure those residents would prefer paving instead of a crest. Sincerely John Melody. so scoring more runs in bunches rather than depending solely on the heroic home runs. It seems to me that in whatever we are involved in as we go about our lives, we can choose to live that way and become a helpful blessing to oth- ers and be more fulfilled because of the difference we have made, often in very small ways, but in ways that are meaningful to others. If the Jays win this year it will be because they played as a team where Shame on the eight county councillors who voted to "torpedo" this pro- gram and jeopardize the wellbeing of all the people of Huron County. I ask again, who will draw the shortest straw? Whose life each player tried to help the other players be better rather than showboating themselves. And the whole will be stronger because of each part. Someone taught me a long time ago: "the goal of a Christian is to make other people successful" and another person also told me: "God can do any- thing through the person who doesn't care who gets the credit." A team of servant ori- ented people will always be strong. Are you a team player? will be lost because of the lack of highly trained, knowledgeable personnel: a loved one, a child, a close friend? Donna Jackson Seaforth HAVE AN OPINION? The Huron Expositor welcomes letters to the editor. They must be signed and accompanied by a phone number for information clarification. It is important to note, letters will not be printed without the author's name attached. All letters are subject to editing due to possible space restriction. Letters can be dropped off at the office, mailed or emailed: The Huron Expositor 8 Main St. P.O. Box 69 Seaforth, ON NOK 1WO Shaun.Gregory@sunmedia.ca www.seaforthhuronexpositor.com s ,