New EMS Building to be Completed in Fall
By John Earp
The City of Jal has contracted with Lasco Construction to build a new EMS station adjacent to the old EMS station. The new facility will include dorm rooms for out-of-town EMTs, so that they can immediately respond to emergency calls. The new EMS station will also be used to house one of the new fire engines that Jal Fire Department has recently purchased. According to Jal EMS Chief Whitney Moody, the new EMS station has sufficient clearance to house the new fire engine, while the primary fire station on 5th St. does not have sufficient clearance for that particular new vehicle. Moody says one thing she is looking forward to with the new EMS station is that it will include a space for storage and usage of the CPR training dummies. Moody says she and Shelby Guinn are also certified as firefighters and can drive the new engine if the need were to arise. Chief Moody says she has been interviewing new EMTs and is “trying to find somebody to help out down here because we are a little thinned out here and there.” She says the department needs to have at least a driver and two EMTs available at all times for safety reasons in case a patient becomes violent or is intoxicated or has a head injury and is not complying, or if there happens to be more than one injured patient to deal with at a time. “During the day, because Shelby and I are both fire certified, if our volunteers can’t come in, we can go out to help on a fire.” She says that nighttime calls are more typically elderly folks living in town, while daytime calls tend to be more typically dealing with traffic accidents in the oilfield. Moody says the new EMS building is planned to be completed in September or October of this year.