Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

NCAS has top crew

In times of emergency everyone wants the best people available on hand to help.

Such is the case with the Nevada County Ambulance Service, as, according to owner Chad Cornelius, the NCAS has the best crew it's had since he bought it in 1995.

Along with having a top crew, the NCAS also has three ambulances with state-of-the-art equipment which is carried each and every time an ambulance is dispatched.

Cornelius praised his staff during National Emergency Medical Services Week, May 19-25, saying the crew is normally treated to a cookout during this time, but as EMS week falls on the Memorial Day weekend, the cookout will be held later in the summer.

"I expect this to be a busy weekend," Cornelius said. "We'll do something in summer because of the Memorial Day weekend."

Cornelius said it's the personnel who make the business a success, and this is one of the reasons for the cookout  to recognize their efforts and professionalism on the job.

The NCAS, he said, has been busy during EMS week, making as many as 10 runs in a 24-hour period.

Last year the NCAS responded to about 1,300 calls, and made approximately 1,600 runs in 2000.

The crews work 24-hour shifts, with the NCAS being a seven-day-a-week operation, closing for nothing.

At this time, Cornelius said, there are 10 full-time employees who are nationally certified as either emergency medical technicians-intermediate, or as paramedics. There are two part-time employees as well.

The staff, he said, is dedicated and takes additional training courses whenever possible.

At this time, the crew has been trained in pediatric life support and pre-hospital trauma life support, in addition to the required training.

The ambulances, he said, are equipped with Life-Pack10s, which are cardiac monitors. These devices monitor heart rates and how the heart is functioning electrically. They also have the equipment to do IVs, give medication and have the gear for spinal and traumatic immobilization, along with having port-a-vents in case of cardiac arrests.

Cornelius is in the process of having a new ambulance built to replace a 1996 model. It should be ready by mid-June.

The NCAS offers memberships to families and individuals. A family membership is $50 per year, while the individual price is $40 annually. These memberships can literally save people hundreds of dollars, as members have no out-of-pocket ambulance expenses regardless how many times the NCAS is called.

The NCAS, Cornelius said, will take what a member's insurance pays, should they have insurance. If they don't, the membership covers the costs of the ambulance service involved.