|
Mayor Pro Tem Bob Woodard (right), Fire Chief Doug Penland (left), and scholarship recipient Matthew Smith (center)
Matthew Smith is shown receiving the KDH Fire Auxiliary’s first scholarship, awarded in 2007, in the amount of $3,000 by Fire Auxiliary and Board of Commissioners member, Mayor Pro Tem Bob Woodard and Fire Chief Doug Penland.
|
|
Meet “Pluggie!”
The Kill Devil Hills Fire Auxiliary helped the Fire Department enhance its abilities to interact with children during fire safety seminars conducted at local schools by purchasing “Pluggie” an animatronic teaching aid. The cute little guy is about 36 inches high and weighs 50 pounds. He has a complete motion remote control system, wireless communications, a siren, and MP3 player. He even squirts water.
Shown in the photo above are Fire Marshal Rick Heppert and Fire Sergeant Jon Gates with the animatronic “Pluggie.”
|
The Golden Hour
In the emergency medical world there is what is called The Golden Hour. It is the amount of time it takes for a person with trauma (severe) injuries to get to the nearest Hospital Trauma Center to give the victim the best possibility of full recovery. If the victim can make it to the Trauma Center in the Golden Hour they will have a 90% or better chance of survival. The Outer Banks’ nearest Trauma Center is Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
Reflective address shields and their reflective four-inch numbers provide the maximum visibility at night for emergency vehicles to quickly find your residence. For shut-ins, or the elderly who are prone to heart attack or stroke, it is imperative that they be transported to the nearest hospital for Dare Med Flight to be able to transport them to Sentara. The Dare Med Flight Helicopter can make the trip, one-way, in approximately 20-25 minutes, longer in severe weather conditions.
To be given the best chance for survival, trauma victims need to be located and transported to the nearest facility in as short a time as possible. Luminous street number signs provide emergency personnel the quickest and most efficient means of identifying your residence, especially at night. Their $20 cost is negligible when compared to the tragedy of loss of human life.
|
|