Pennville started first responders

Twenty-five years ago this week, Pennville was starting a new program.

The July 26, 1996, edition of The Commercial Review featured coverage of the launch of Pennville First Responders.

Fourteen members of the town’s volunteer fire department had been training with Paulette Wagner and Rick Hines of Jay Emergency Medical Service to become first responders.

“When someone in Pennville calls for an ambulance, we dispatch the ambulance from Dunkirk,” said Wager. “That can take anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes to get here. If someone is in cardiac arrest, they don’t have that kind of time. The first responders are dispatched and in a matter of minutes they’re there getting the patient stabilized and they get the CPR started until we arrive.”

At the time, Portland, Dunkirk and Redkey already had trained first responders.

The new Pennville first responders took a 40-hour course in basic life support, CPR and first aid. Each first responder also bought their own life support kit and supplies at a cost of $120.

Lisa Bunch had already put her training to good use while camping at Paradise Point in southern Jay County.

“A guy got stung by bees and I was able to help him,” she said.

Ralph Frazee, a volunteer firefighter, noted that first responders had been to about 10 calls, most in the middle of the night.

“When a call comes in, we are paged and whoever can be is there,” he said. “We’ve had as many as 11 or 12 people respond and sometimes only two. We don’t expect everybody to be there every time.”