EMERGENCY

DISPATCHES

These broadcasts regarding fire and ambulance calls were monitored this past week by the newspaper:

JUNE 20

9:46 a.m. — A confused driver from Barton County, who spent the night lost on back roads in eastern Marion County, was taken to St. Luke Hospital by Marion ambulance after sheriff’s deputies located his car near K-150 and Wagonwheel Rd.

10:47 a.m. — An Eastshore resident who felt ill and could not walk after falling and breaking three ribs over the weekend was taken to St. Luke by Marion ambulance.

3:07 p.m. — A St. Luke patient with difficulty breathing was transferred by Marion ambulance to Wesley Medical Center, Wichita. The ambulance returned to Marion at 5:43 p.m.

6:16 p.m. — Alerted to an armed standoff with a suicidal man in the 400 block of Maria St. in Lehigh, Hillsboro ambulance stood by and eventually verified at 6:51 p.m. that the man had been killed.

6:55 p.m. — With Hillsboro ambulance still in Lehigh, Marion ambulance was sent to Oakwood Apartments in Hillsboro for a possible stroke. Hillsboro EMTs also responded in their own vehicles.

After the call was first canceled then reinstated and after no help was available to cope with an aggressive dog, the ambulance was able to transport the patient to Hillsboro Community Hospital the continued on to Wesley, returning to Marion at 10:41 p.m.

7:00 p.m. — From the scene of the standoff in Lehigh, Hillsboro ambulance transported one person, apparently a police officer who was suffering chest pain and deemed to be in a potentially life-threatening situation.

Initial reports were the patient would be taken to HCH but later reports indicated he was taken to St. Luke, arriving at 7:34 p.m. The ambulance returned to Hillsboro at 8:16 p.m.

7:26 p.m. — Peabody ambulance, the initial call to which was not recorded by the newspaper’s monitoring system, delivered a patient to HCH. It was back in Peabody at 8:11 p.m.

JUNE 21

2:04 a.m. — A man who fell and hit his head in the 100 block of N. Cedar St. was taken to St. Luke by Marion ambulance.

8:32 a.m. — After a series of communications problems, Tampa ambulance arranged for a helicopter ambulance to transport an injured 38-year-old woman who fell 30 feet near 330th and Bison Rds., suffering head trauma and chest pains and having no feeling in the lower half of her body.

The helicopter, bound for Wesley, lifted off at 9:41 a.m., more than an hour after the initial call. Tampa ambulance was back in Tampa at 10:31 a.m.

10:13 a.m. — A man who apparently suffered a stroke and was “turning purple” at an apartment in the 500 block of W. Grand. Ave. in Hillsboro was taken to HCH by Hillsboro ambulance. Two Hillsboro EMTs arrived in their own vehicles before the ambulance and reported, three minutes after the initial call, that the patient was breathing and that there was no need to call firefighters to assist with CPR.

2:06 p.m. — Marion ambulance was sent back to the same residence in the 100 block of N. Cedar St. where it had gone on Monday. The patient, who needed to be helped up after falling, declined to be transported to a hospital.

3:35 p.m. — Marion ambulance transferred a patient from St. Luke to Newton Medical Center. The ambulance returned to Marion at 5:39 p.m.

5:02 a.m. — With Marion ambulance still completing the previous call, Hillsboro ambulance transferred a second patient from St. Luke to Newton. The ambulance returned to Hillsboro at 6:57 p.m.

THURSDAY

3:04 p.m. — Firefighters from Goessel and Moundridge spent more than two hours battling a wheat stubble fire three miles west of Goessel in McPherson County.

8:09 p.m. — Marion ambulance was called to help lift a person in the 700 block of S. Freeborn St. Ten minutes later, firefighters were paged to provide additional help. The person was not taken to a hospital.

FRIDAY

7:16 a.m. — Marion ambulance transported a patient to St. Luke. Further information about the call was not recorded.

11:04 a.m. — Smoke rising from near 230th and Quail Creek Rds., where permission to have a controlled burn had been denied because of wind speed, led to a visit from Marion’s fire chief, who reported that the fire was out and that the landowner “got his lecture.”

12:47 p.m. — A 69-year-old employee of Bethesda Home in Goessel who fell and possibly broke her hip was taken to Newton Medical by Hillsboro ambulance. Goessel first responders also were dispatched. After hearing no response from either the ambulance or the first responders, dispatchers verified at 1:03 p.m. that the ambulance was en route. It arrived three minutes later. The ambulance was back in Hillsboro at 2:41 p.m.

6:29 p.m. — Tampa ambulance was dispatched, but Hillsboro ambulance responded to a call about a woman who fell and injured her face and arm at St. John Nepomucene Church in Pilsen. The ambulance arrived at 6:41 p.m., took her to St. Luke at 7:12 p.m., arrived there at 7:27 p.m., and returned to Hillsboro at 8 p.m.

7:02 p.m. — After initially being sent three miles west of Marion, Marion firefighters extinguished a baler fire at 210th and Yarrow Rds. They returned to Marion at 8:40 p.m.

9:33 p.m. — After similar miscommunication, Marion firefighters, rescue squad, and ambulances from Marion, Tampa, and Dickinson County were dispatched to a two-car accident at US-77 and 330th Rd.

One patient, the more seriously injured, was transported by Dickinson County ambulance to Junction City. A less seriously injured person was transported by Tampa ambulance to St. Luke. A third declined to be transported.

Marion firefighters remained at the scene, where a utility pole had been broken, until 10:26 p.m.

9:58 p.m. — With Marion ambulance still on the call near Lost Springs, Hillsboro ambulance transferred a patient from St. Luke to Newton Medical.

11:47 p.m. — A woman who reportedly slit her wrist in an apartment in the 500 block of W. Grand Ave. volunteered to be taken to HCH by a Hillsboro police officer.

The call initially was assigned to Hillsboro ambulance, which had returned to the county from its previous call but was still 15 to 20 minutes away. A Hillsboro first responder was called instead.

SATURDAY

10:21 a.m. — A 65-year-old woman found unconscious by a neighbor at Indian Guide Apartments in Peabody was taken to Newton Medical by Marion ambulance. It took 20 minutes for the ambulance to arrive from Marion, but a single EMT also responded in Peabody ambulance and was able to assess the patient’s condition as life-threatening.

1:01 p.m. — Hillsboro ambulance was called to take a patient home from HCH. The address to which the patient was taken was the same as the one from which police had transported the woman who reportedly slit her wrist the night before.

3:17 p.m. — A fire in a ditch on 230th Rd. between Xavier and Yarrow Rds. was extinguished by Marion firefighters, who returned to Marion at 4:31 p.m.

9:23 p.m. — Peabody ambulance transported a patient to Via Christi – St. Joseph Hospital, Wichita, after initially heading for Newton Medical. Other information about the call was garbled.

SUNDAY

10:31 a.m. — A 47-year-old man who twisted his leg while trying to move from his wheelchair to his van in the 500 block of W. Grand Ave. in Hillsboro was taken to HCH by Hillsboro ambulance. Hillsboro firefighters were called to help lift.

10:34 p.m. — A diabetic woman who passed out and then experienced seizures in a driveway in the 200 block of E. 9th St. in Peabody was taken to Newton Medical by Marion ambulance. The ambulance arrived 20 minutes after the initial call. However, a single EMT in Peabody ambulance had arrived earlier and begun assessing the patient.

12:54 p.m. — Hillsboro ambulance went back to HCH to take the patient from its 10:31 a.m. call back home. Once again, Hillsboro firefighters were called to help lift.

MONDAY

1:23 p.m. — A man suffering seizures in the 300 block of E. Main in Lehigh was taken to HCH by Hillsboro ambulance.

4:55 p.m. — Marion ambulance transferred a patient from St. Luke to Newman Regional Health, Emporia.

6:56 p.m. — A smoking ceiling fan at a residence near Falcon and 190th Rds. Was dealt with by Hillsboro firefighters who canceled calls also made to Hillsboro ambulance and Goessel and Peabody firefighters.

7:02 p.m. — A 60-year-old woman who passed out at a home on US-77 in Lincolnville was transported to St. Luke by Marion ambulance. Tampa ambulance and Lincolnville first responders originally were called but the call was switched to Marion ambulance, which was en route back from Emporia.

7:34 p.m. — Tornado sirens were activated in Lincolnville.

7:38 p.m. — Marion police made several attempts to activate tornado sirens in Marion.