Thank an EMT at Northwest EMS's open house

Every month at Borough Council's business meeting, we have a report from Northwest EMS about the number of calls its ambulances have responded to in the area. Just by 7 p.m. today, May 1, they responded to 21 calls throughout the area, from Elizabethtown and the surrounding townships to Columbia and Manheim.

Living just two blocks from Market Street, I hear an ambulance siren more often than I'd like.

Elizabethtown is fortunate to have a dedicated EMS organization staffed with professionals who are on the front line of health problems and medical emergencies. 

You can thank those professionals later this month when Northwest EMS opens its doors to area residents. From 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 20, Northwest will hold an open house at its station at 380 W. Bainbridge St. EMTs will provide blood pressure screenings, emergency health-related information, CPR practice and a chance to see the equipment inside an ambulance.

The open house coincides with National EMS Week, when emergency providers demonstrate the life-saving capabilities they bring to the community.

Northwest EMS continues to emphasize the importance of citizens learning Hands-Only CPR, a potentially lifesaving technique involving no mouth-to-mouth contact. There will be instructions available at this open house, along with CPR manikins for hands-only practice.

Additional opportunities to learn Hands-Only CPR will be held at the Bainbridge Street station.

This open house is co-sponsored by Cornerstone Adminisystems Inc., of New Cumberland, which provides billing, compliance and revenue cycle management to the EMS industry.

Edited at 7:56 p.m. May 1 to reflect specific call numbers I received for today.