HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY FROM THE FLU

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Germs spread that way.
• Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
• Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.
• If you get sick, CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
• If you become sick with fever plus a cough and sore throat or have trouble breathing, seek medical care right away. Tell your doctor if you have had contact with a sick person or farm animal while traveling.    

CDC - Swine Flu




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Delaware County, PA - Intercommunity Health Coordination Department - Pandemic Influenza Planning In Pennsylvania

Ambulances 15-7 & 15-7A along with Rescue 15 (Radnor), Station 23 (Bryn Mawr), and Medic 109 (Radnor ALS) were dispatched at 4:00 p.m. to Landover Rd. and County Line Rd. for an auto-accident with entrapment in the Bryn Mawr section of Radnor Township.  Medic 109 arrived on location and reported a victim heavily entrapped in the drivers seat and placed a helicopter on standby.  The crews from Rescue 15 and Squad 23 worked together to free the driver by removing the roof and both driver's side doors with the Jaws of Life. The extrication was completed by 4:30 p.m.  Engine 15-3 set-up a landing zone at the Anges Irwin School on S. Ithan Ave. Ambulance 15-7 transported the patient to the landing zone where they were flown by PENNSTAR Flight to a Philadelphia trauma center.
All units cleared the scene just after 5:00 p.m.
 

Mickey Eisenberg, MD, renowned researcher from the University of Washington in Seattle, has announced release of a free new Apple application that instructs users how to treat victims of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and choking.  The CPR/Choking Apple Application, created by StoneMeadowDevelopment, is available from the Apple Application web site in the free education section. The application has seven short videos (about one minute each) on how to perform CPR and aid a choking victim. To download the application, you must have an iPhone. A similar application from Google will be released shortly.

http://www.stonemeadowdevelopment.com/StoneMeadowDevelopment/CPR_Choking...

At 22:51 Radnor Ambulance (along with Companies 15 & 53, Medics 109 & 53) were dispatched to I-476 Southbound for an accident with entrapment.  15-7 & 53-7 arrived to confirm one vehicle accident, vehicle on its side in the median. Squad 15 arrived on location ready to go to work when it was determined the single occupant of the vehicle was deceased. 15-9 (Kelly) assumed Blue Route command. Squad 15’s crew stabilized the vehicle.  Rescue 53 (Broomall) and Rescue 15 provided scene lighting and support for the Pennsylvania State Police and the Medical Examiner's investigation.  Crews from both units assisted the Medical Examiner with victim removal. All units cleared the scene and were available at 00:37.

At the April meeting of the Radnor Fire Company, the annual recognition awards were presented.  The Ambulance Crewperson of the Year Award was presented by Ambulance Chairperson Greg Amato to Andrew Rose.  The Captain's Award and Ambulance Rookie of the Year were presented by Ambulance Captain Liz Powell to Tom Marchesani and Adrian Hightower, respectfully.

Congratulations to all this year’s award recipients!

The Radnor Fire Company was awarded a grant in the amount of $20,000.00 from the PA Department of Community and Economic Development.

PA State Representative William 'Bill' Adolph was instrumental in facilitating the process for this grant money being awarded.

The grant money will be used to make the fire company building more energy efficient by installing a new HVAC system. The goal is to reduce the overall expense of heating and cooling the building. Any remaining funds will be used to assist with overall building maintenance and upkeep.

The members of Radnor Fire Company are grateful and most appreciative of Rep. Adolph's dedication to the first responder community.
 

As of February 1st, the Radnor Fire Company & Ambulance will have two additional vehicles available for emergency medical responses.  The Quick Response Service (QRS) at RFC all but died when Rescue 15 was replaced in early 2005, and state recognition lapsed in 2007.  The new Rescue 15 (QRS-15A) as well as 15-8 (QRS-15) were recently licensed by the Delaware County EMS Office and finally added to the county dispatch system this week.  Based on statistics provided by neighboring squads, we anticipate upwards of 100 dispatches in the first year.  Both vehicles are equipped with a full compliment of BLS gear, including AED, Oxygen, Epi-Pens and CPAP - quickly bringing life-saving equipment to patients when a Radnor ambulance is unavailable or delayed.  A special thanks to the Office of the Fire Chief for making this program possible.

Just as the morning rush was coming to a close Ambulance 15 was dispatched for its second ambulance to cover a medical call. While transporting the patient to a local hospital the crew witnessed a large box truck strike the King of Prussia Road bridge and overturn around 09:08 hours. Crews requested the fire department and EMS to respond. Squad-15 arrived and found one of the saddle tanks had ruptured and leaked a large amount of diesel fuel. Rescue-15 arrived shortly thereafter and assisted the Squad with spill control. No severe damage was reported to the bridge. Trucks striking this bridge is almost a weekly event. All crews cleared the scene at 10:32 hours.
 

At 16:35 hours on Friday, Company and Ambulance 15 (along with Company, Medic and Ambulance 53 and Medic 109) were dispatched to Interstate 476 Southbound for an accident with entrapment.  While en route, the call was upgraded to a cardiac arrest by first responders on scene from a private ambulance company that happened to be passing by when the incident occurred. Squad 15 was first on the scene amongst the dispatched, and reported negative entrapment and no cardiac arrest. Crews from Squad 15 and Ambulance 15 removed the patient from the wrecked vehicle and with the help of the Pennsylvania State Police and units from Company 53, shut down I-476 Northbound for a helicopter landing. The highway was shut down for several minutes as the helicopter landed and evacuated the patient to a local trauma center.  Crews cleared the scene and were available at 17:08.

At 09:41 hours crews were dispatched to the 400 block of Boxwood Road for the building fire assignment. The call had originally come in to Delaware County as a smoke alarm activation but police on scene first reported heavy smoke coming from the second floor. Montgomery County 23 (Bryn Mawr Fire Company) was first on scene as they are 1st due in this section of Radnor Twp. Assistance was requested from Radnor and Montgomery County 24 (Gladwyne).  EMS crews from Radnor were assisted by Medic 109 & Montgomery County 313-4.
 

Radnor Ambulance continues to remain on the cutting edge of pre-hospital medicine, bringing early advanced treatments directly into homes & businesses in our community.  Pennsylvania's Statewide BLS Protocols were revised in November to include BLS use of CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure).  Radnor Ambulance, in conjunction with our Medical Director, Ben Usatch, M.D., successfully trained and implemented CPAP the first week of December.   The BLS use of CPAP will allow Radnor EMT's to provide early intervention in respiratory emergencies involving: COPD (emphysema, chronic bronchitis), Asthma, Allergic Reactions and Respiratory infections such as pneumonia and acute bronchitis. 

Company 15 EMS was dispatched to the area of 800 East Lancaster Ave for an accident with an overturned vehicle.  15-7 arrived on the scene and upgraded the nature of the call to an accident with entrapment and requested the second ambulance. Bryn Mawr Fire Company along with Radnor responded for the Rescue.  15-9C(Maguire,M) arrived onboard 15-7A and set up Lancaster Avenue Command.  Bryn Mawr and Radnor Crews worked alongside each other and made short work of folding the roof of the overturned van.  While the extrication was taking place, another three vehicle accident occured at the scene.  EMS crews at the scene treated one patient from this accident.  The driver of the overturned van was transported to the hospital and all crews cleared the scene in 45 minutes. 

On Sunday, October 12, Radnor Police received a report of an erratic driver westbound on Lancaster Avenue in the area of Route 320.  They observed the vehicle and attempted to perform a traffic stop, but the vehicle failed to pull over. While attempting to stop the vehicle it struck two vehicles and continued going west, then striking a third car causing it to strike the police SUV. The car then ran off the road and struck a pole. The police officer called for at least two EMS units. The driver of the striking vehicle was found to be unconscious. Ambulances 15-7 and 15-7A arrived and started their assessments. EMS Captain Powell (15-11B) requested the rescue assignment bringing 15-2 and Rescue 15.  15-2 arrived and established Lancaster Avenue Command. The crew of 15-2 started to work on the driver of the third car that was struck. Chief 15-9 (Kelly) arrived and assumed command. Rescue 15 arrived soon after and assisted the crew of 15-7A with patient care. Medic 109 requested a direct fly of PennSTAR. 15-1 was dispatched to handle the Landing Zone assignment. Command asked for two additional EMS units bringing a medic unit from Chester County station 02 (Berwyn) and a transport unit from station 104 (Riddle EMS). Radnor Fire Company personnel remained on scene for over an hour assisting with the clean-up. The accident scene was almost ¾ of a mile long.

On September 21st, RFC was invited to participate in the annual Radnor Fall Festival. The fire company sent three pieces of apparatus, including an Engine, the Rescue, and an Ambulance. Equipment was on display and midway through the festival, crews participated in a vehicle extrication demonstration, removing the roof, and performing a front end displacement on a four door sedan, removing the patient and helping ambulance crews package for transport.