SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — He refused the hot dog and hamburger but went away well fed.
That’s how Patrick F. Moran, education and outreach coordinator for Schuylkill EMS, explained an encounter he had with a visitor during National EMS Week.
Moran said when he offered the man some lunch on Monday, the visitor instead said he wanted to know how to work an automated external defibrillator and asked about how to do the Heimlich maneuver and hands-only CPR.
Moran said the man explained he had just started driving a van transporting older adults, and he wanted to learn more.
“He said, ‘You fed me what I needed to know,’ ” Moran said, while flipping burgers Wednesday at the Schuylkill EMS facility at 480 Haven St., Schuylkill Haven.
As part of the national celebration, Schuylkill EMS is hosting an open house from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at all three stations it serves. That included 320 N. Ninth St., Pottsville, on Monday and Schuylkill Haven on Wednesday. The final open house will be Friday at 500 E. Market St., Orwigsburg.
The event gives visitors a chance to look at the rescue equipment, ask questions and meet some of the providers.
“The community is so supportive of us,” Moran said.
Earlier in the day, Schuylkill EMS received a proclamation from Schuylkill County commissioners Chairman George F. Halcovage Jr., Frank J. Staudenmeier and Gary J. Hess proclaiming May 16 to 21 as Emergency Medical Services Week and encouraging the community to observe the week with appropriate programs, ceremonies and activities.
Moran said representatives from the boroughs and municipalities served have also issued similar actions of recognition and appreciation.
Schuylkill EMS handles close to 15,000 calls a year, with 65 full- and part-time employees, EMTs, paramedics and pre-hospital nurses, and serves Pottsville, Schuylkill Haven, Orwigsburg and surrounding communities, according to Moran. Schuylkill EMS has 11 vehicles and works as a backup to West Schuylkill ALS and Shenandoah ALS.
Before becoming merged as Schuylkill EMS, Moran said the service was actually three, individual operations run by the Pottsville Lions, the Schuylkill Haven Lions and the Orwigsburg VFW. Pottsville and Schuylkill Haven joined first, before Orwigsburg came along in 2014. The EMS is served by a 12-person community board of directors.
John W. Reiley, a Schuylkill EMS board member from Orwigsburg, said the merger brought better equipment and accessibility to staffing.
“The merger was the best thing to happen to the community,” Reiley said at Wednesday’s open house. “We used to have to wait to get paramedics out of Schuylkill Haven, and now we have paramedics in-house.”
William Corby, a volunteer and trustee with Rainbow Hose Company, Schuylkill Haven, attended the open house with his daughter, Elizabeth Corby, 1.
He’s been a volunteer since 1991.
“I just love doing it, and it’s a family thing. My dad, grandfather and uncles all did it,” Corby said.
Another volunteer with Rainbow and a member of Schuylkill Haven’s Water Rescue Team, Scott Riegel, also stopped by the Schuylkill Haven event.
Riegel is currently in training to become a certified EMT. He works at Sapa in Cressona, which runs an EMT program offered through Harrisburg Area Community College. His course runs two nights per week from 6 to 10 p.m. through October. When he’s finished, he’ll become a certified EMT and will be able to respond to emergency needs at Sapa.
A subscription drive for Schuylkill EMS is currently underway, according to Garry Laubach, Schuylkill EMS executive director. The service provides community CPR, AED, first aid and safety training, as well as training for businesses and medical professionals, he said.
“We have patients come in and say thank you,” Laubach said.
For more information, visit www.schuylkillems.org or stop by the Orwigsburg open house Friday.