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For EMTs, it's all about the touch
(by Karen F. Mrnarevic - August 20, 2008)
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Staff Photo by Karen F. Mrnarevic
Washington Township Volunteer Ambulance Corps Captain Bill Kroepke and EMT Bea Napier have a combined 74 years of service to the corps between them.
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Bill Kroekpe and Bea Napier don’t do it for the glamour. They will admit that they are of a “rare breed,” and are somewhat addicted to the rush of it, but it’s hard to imagine either of them being the type to kayak on white water or strap on a parachute and jump out of a plane. It is far easier to believe that they are just two compassionate people who live by the creed that one should do unto others as one would wish others to do unto him. They are just two do-gooders with big hearts… and, occasionally, sharp tongues. Napier and Kroepke are Emergency Medical Technicians with the Washington Township Volunteer Ambulance Corps (WTVAC).
With a combined 74 years of service to the WTVAC between them (39 for Kroepke, who is the Captain, and 35 for Napier), you would think the novelty would have worn off by now. You would think that the late night calls, 40-plus hour weeks, and lack of monetary compensation would have sent these two into retirement from the corps years ago. But quitting doesn’t seem to be on either’s agenda. “I will be coming down here with my walker,” says Napier, though it’s unlikely this lady would ever need assistance walking. “I’m going on 71, but I feel like I’m in my 40s,” she says. Napier asserts that she owes her vitality in large part to her participation with the WTVAC, which she calls “the excitement in my life.”
During a recent shift at the corps headquarters, Napier and Kroepke shared a soda, shot the breeze and cracked jokes. Napier sifted through piles of paperwork and Kroepke manned the phones, which seemed to be ringing off the hook. They were the only two members of the corps on duty – not a rare occurrence. The WTVAC currently has 32 active members, which they admit is not abysmal, but many of the volunteers work full time or go to school, which means they are only available nights and weekends. Weekdays, Napier and Kroepke say, are hectic and exhausting.
The dynamic duo say that getting new recruits has gotten much harder over the past 10 years or so, with only two or three new recruits joining the corps each year. “We are spreading the available resources thin,” says Kroepke. “You have so much bread and only so much butter.” Asked if the closing of Pascack Valley Hospital last fall made things harder for WTVAC and other volunteer ambulance corps in the area, he put it bluntly: “No doubt about it. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out.” Whereas the average ambulance run used to be about an hour, now patients have to be transported to Hackensack, Teaneck, Englewood or
Ridgewood , which adds at least 20 minutes to each run. Longer runs mean less availability, which could mean an increased response time to the scene of an emergency.
On this particular weekday morning, there are no emergency calls for nearly an hour, which Kroepke and Napier say is also a fairly rare occurrence. Some days, Kroepke said, they are out on calls all day long. Part of the reason for that is the mutual aid agreement that the area volunteer ambulance corps have with each other. The Pascack Valley Mutual Aid Group (PVMAG) consists of seven towns:
Township of
Washington , Westwood, Hillsdale, Emerson and the Tri-Boro (Park Ridge,
Woodcliff
Lake , Montvale). Occasionally the PVMAG assists
Paramus , as well, and vice versa.
When an emergency call comes in to any one of the participating towns’ ambulance corps, a computer program, which Kroepke helped design, notifies the other participating towns. In the event that the EMTs from that town are unavailable, units from other participating towns are dispatched to the scene based on their proximity to the scene and how many ambulances are necessary. The activities of all seven dispatch centers is visible on the screen at all times and the information is constantly updated to keep every participating town informed of what the others are doing and whether they need help.
Kroepke says that while there is rarely a shortage of units to respond to emergencies, it wouldn’t hurt for the WTVAC (or any of the other PVMAG corps) to increase its membership and take the burden off members like Kroepke and Napier, who spend more time in uniform than not. One of the biggest problems, says Kroepke, is that there are so many things to volunteer for these days. “There’s school, sports, scouts, church, temple… You have to put it [the Volunteer Ambulance Corps] on par with other commitments.”
While there are elements to service that both Kroepke and Napier say are fun, exciting and rewarding, it is important for people to realize “it could be you or your family” who needs help in an emergency. They say that not a month goes by that they don’t run into somebody they once assisted as EMTs. In the supermarket, on the street, at the post office, people recognize them and say, “Thank you for being there.” That, they both admit, makes all the time they devote worthwhile.
Napier says that not everybody understands her level of commitment. Every time she gets called away from home on an emergency, her husband jokes, “The divorce papers are on the table!”
“We don’t get paid anything, No stipend, no nothing,” says Kroepke. “We are a dying breed: crazy, a little stupid, maybe.” But make no mistake, he says, there is no way he or Napier would rather spend their free time.
They have, over their years of commitment, had a hand in bringing friends, neighbors and even fellow EMTs back from the brink of death. They have been there to help people who have fallen in the tub or had a heart attack or broken a bone, and they have been instrumental in administering vital care to these people. “It’s the reward of saving or promoting the better health of somebody in need,” Kroepke says.
The stories don’t always have happy endings. Napier says she has been in situations where there was nothing to be done for the patient, where her most valuable role was to offer comfort and tenderness to the patient and the patient’s family. “You just talk to them, just hold their hand, or even the hand of a family member. That touch is the most important thing. It’s all about the touch.”
For more information on the WTVAC and how to volunteer, visit www.wtvac.org
Karen F. Mrnarevic's e-mail address is Mrnarevic@northjersey.com.
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