Piedmont Triad Ambulance & Rescue / Press Release PTAR Employees of 2008

~~~ PRESS RELEASE INFORMATION ~~~

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - JANUARY 07, 2009

Piedmont Triad Ambulance & Rescue, Inc.

CONTACT: Paula Lineberry, PTAR Chief

EMAIL: lineberry747@northstate.net

PHONE: 336-887-3411

PTAR "CPR Save" Awards & "Stork" Awards For 2008
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Piedmont Triad Ambulance & Rescue (PTAR) recently announced winners
of their "CPR Save" awards and "Stork" awards for 2008 during their Annual Christmas Dinner, which was held on December 13, 2008.

The lapel pin awards were presented by PTAR Chief Paula Lineberry, and
PTAR President Gart Evans.

PTAR "Stork" awards are given to PTAR members who successfully deliver a baby during the performance of their duties.

STORK AWARDS: On May 15, 2008, EMT Brent Wooters and EMT-I Kenneth Bullabough were working in the Asheboro area of Randolph County when they were dispatched on a call about a woman in labor. A PTAR unit was dispatched due to the fact that there were no Randolph County EMS units available at the time. The location of the call was north of Randleman, in the vicinity of
NC-Hwy-62.

Shortly after they arrived on the scene in Unit-31, they determined that the patient was about to give birth. They prepared her for transport, loaded her into their ambulance, and began the trip to a hospital.

They didn't get very far down the road, when it became apparent that they wouldn't make it to the hospital before the baby arrived. As they traveled down Randleman Road, about one mile south of NC-Hwy-62 in the area of Ritchie's Motel, they delivered a baby girl in the back of their ambulance.

Afterwards, they continued their journey to the hospital.

EMT Brent Wooters joined PTAR on May 13, 2003 and EMT-I Kenneth Bullabough joined PTAR on February 16, 2004.

STORK AWARDS: On April 09, 2008, EMT-I Connie Denny and EMT-I Wendy Leonard delivered a baby boy in the back of PTAR Unit-37.

EMT-I Connie Denny joined PTAR on December 16, 1993 and EMT-I Wendy Leonard joined PTAR on July 11, 2005.

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PTAR "CPR Save" awards are presented to PTAR members who successfully revive a patient who has experienced cardiac arrest.

Before presenting the 2008 "CPR Save" awards, Chief Paula Lineberry said, "I have set a very high standard for this." She explained that a "CPR Save" in the eyes of some EMS agencies is whenever a patient survives at least long enough to be admitted to a floor room of a hospital, even if they expire just a few hours later.

"But when we set the criteria here," she said, "these are people who should be back to a productive life, or a somewhat productive life."

CPR SAVE AWARDS: The first "CPR Save" awards that were presented were for an incident which occurred in 2007, but was inadvertently overlooked last year.

Before giving "CPR Save" awards to EMT Cheryl Rhoten and EMT-I Mindy McDonald, Chief Lineberry said, "We transport this patient on a regular basis now – still – for some medical concerns. This was an infant that they saved."

EMT Cheryl Rhoten joined PTAR on March 21, 2005, and EMT-I Mindy McDonald joined PTAR on May 10, 2002.

CPR SAVE AWARDS: The next "CPR Save" awards were presented to EMT-I Connie Denny and EMT-I Wendy Leonard, who work together on PTAR Unit-37.

EMT-I Connie Denny joined PTAR on December 16, 1993 and EMT-I Wendy Leonard joined PTAR on July 11, 2005.

CPR SAVE AWARDS: The next "CPR Save" awards were for an incident that Chief Lineberry participated in, along with several other people.

"We were at Base-7 (PTAR's Headquarters Station in High Point), and I was involved," she said. "I've been here for 23 years, and I've only ever had one other patient that I knew survived and went back home to lead a productive life. We were at Base-7, reviewing protocol test results one day. There were no ambulances in the house – that's usually how it happens," she said, noting that all other PTAR personnel were out on calls for service at the time.

She said, "Myself and (Guilford County Paramedic) Susie Chilton were at the Base, and someone came up and said there's someone laying on the side of the road. Well, you know, in that neighborhood you kinda don't really get excited about that, because lots of people lay on the side of the road down there in Base-7 territory. But on this particular day we went out and we did find a gentleman that was laying on the side of the road, and he had 'coded', and I guess he could not have coded in a better location."

Chief Lineberry said, "So myself, (PTAR Field Supervisor) Patsy Hege and Susie Chilton, we arrived and did CPR. Then one of our ambulances from Greensboro was making a transport into High Point Regional Hospital and was on the way back to the highway to head back to Greensboro, and they heard the call, and – thank goodness – because they actually had an ambulance with them. That was EMT Wendy Fitzgibbon and EMT Lisa Bowman."

She added, "I went to the hospital on two different occasions and spoke with the gentleman. He was very grateful." She also said that she would wear her 'CPR Save' lapel pin "with pride."

Chief Paula Lineberry joined PTAR on October 12, 1988. Patsy Hege is a Field Supervisor, who joined PTAR on February 29, 1996. EMT Wendy Fitzgibbon joined PTAR on September 04, 2007 and EMT Lisa Bowman joined PTAR on November 13, 2006.

CPR SAVE AWARDS: The next "CPR Save" awards were "very confusing," according to Chief Lineberry. "Piedmont Unit-37 again – they keep me hopping! EMT-I George Tyson and EMT Brian Leonard ride on Piedmont Unit-37. George has three CPR Saves, and Brian has four."

She said, "They only had two each when I ordered the awards! But they just kept going. Which is good – we want that."

EMT-I George Tyson joined PTAR on February 01, 2006 and EMT Brian Leonard joined PTAR on July 11, 2005.

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Formed in 1971 as the High Point Rescue Squad, PTAR is a private non-profit organization which provides all levels of emergency medical assistance, as well as rescue service, transportation for convalescents and wheelchair-bound patients, and "stand-by" service for special events in the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina.

PTAR's local service area includes High Point, Greensboro, Jamestown, Asheboro, Archdale & Trinity, and other areas of Guilford, Davidson and Randolph counties. The organization also provides transportation outside of its normal service area, including many out-of-state trips.

PTAR currently operates out of four Base Stations, with their Administrative Office Building located at 1422 South Main Street in High Point, just a few blocks from their Headquarters Station at 901 South Elm Street. They have two other Base Stations in southern Greensboro and northeast Greensboro, and recently finished building a new Base Station at 2011 Sandy Ridge Road, near River Landing, to better serve the fast-growing "Heart of the Triad" area.

Their fleet has grown to now include 16 Advanced Life Support (ALS) Licensed Ambulances, 1 Rescue Truck, 3 Boats, 1 Wheelchair Van, 1 Emergency Support Vehicle for disasters and mass casuality situations, and 3 Staff Vehicles. They have a staff of roughly 70 full-time and part-time employees, including several office staff members, plus about 25 Volunteers.

PTAR ambulances respond to over 25,000 calls for service per year.

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August 1971 - August 2008
"37 Years of Serving Our Community"

~ OUR MISSION STATEMENT ~

To Provide The Best Possible Care For Our Patients
By Providing The Best Equipment And Training For Our Personnel

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