Anna Ludwick of Kettering Health Network was at the March 20 Bethel Township Trustees meeting to honor five Bethel Twp Firefighters for outstanding work.
“On February 9, we had a crew who took a patient to Grandview Hospital,” she said. “They found the patient in full arrest.”
Ludwick said that the Bethel crew was able to get the patient’s heart beating again. She said the patient went to rehab and was able to be discharged.
“That’s actually a really rare occurrence,” she said. “It takes expertise and skills to get that done.”
The Bethel crew included Firefighter/Medic Chelsea Lipiec, Firefighter/Medic Craig Hillman, Firefighter/EMT Brandon Warner, Firefighter/EMT Dan Tucker and Lt. Andrew Porter.
Warner and Tucker were on a run at the time of the meeting and were to be honored later.
Trustee David Phares also commended the crew for their work.
“Another group we want to thank is the residents of the township,” said Phares, “because they support the Fire Department and enable us to have the equipment we have.”
Phares continued to say that Bethel Township is “blessed” to have what they have. He said that other townships in the county don’t have as many trained staff and response times are not as quick as in Bethel Twp.
The Trustees also agreed to purchase a power loader and two chest compression systems, for a total cost of over $37,000.
The power loader automatically loads a patient into the squad, reducing the risk of injury to the patient or fire personnel.
The chest compression systems administer CPR at a consistent rate and pressure, and can provide CPR for longer periods of time than a person can.
“Studies have shown that high-quality CPR is what saves peoples’ lives,” said Assistant Chief Ludwick, “and human beings are only capable of doing it for a period of time before it starts to degrade.”
Ludwick said that the chest compression systems perform CPR at the same rate and the same compression, and “they don’t get tired.”
Trustees also approved the application for a Community Development Block Grant to repair curbs on Dale Ridge Rd. If the grant is approved, it would pay 80% of the projected cost of $102,000, and the township would pay the remaining 20%.
Township Administrator Ray Nelson explained that CDBG grants are only available to low to moderate income areas, and the upper plat is one of the few eligible areas.
Nelson said that Crystal Lakes, Medway and the lower plat are not eligible for CDBG grants because of so many high income families.
In other action, the Trustees:
Accepted the resignation of Township Fiscal Officer Melanie Dunbar,
Appointed Julia Ward to the position of Fiscal Officer for the duration of Dunbar’s term,
Approved a contract with Dunbar for training the new Fiscal Officer at $22 per hour, and
Set appropriations for 2018 at $4,116,198.84.
They also set a special meeting for March 29 at 4:30 p.m. with a work session to follow.
