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Every call different for the fast folks of Millville-Nibley First Responders By
Matt Eichner NIBLEY -- The Millville-Nibley First Responders don't receive many emergency calls, but when they do, they arrive at an emergency site en masse. All 10 members of the team will sometimes respond to an emergency, usually filling someone's living room. That is the only complaint ever heard about the First Responders, Scott Wells, Nibley city councilman, told Guy Curtis, head of the Responders Thursday night. Three men from Nibley and seven from Millville are trained to be First Responders. The extensive training includes familiarity at an emergency scene, Curtis, Millville resident and owner of a freight company said. When the call goes out for an ambulance on 911, all the Responders are also called to the scene. "We are the first ones to arrive on the scene to provide care," Curtis said. The responders received 36 calls last year in Nibley and 54 total calls including Millville. There is always someone on call, and all wear pagers to hear a call for their services, Curtis said. All are volunteers. They receive no compensation for hours spent in training, responding to emergency calls or gasoline. Curtis said the Responders are a great benefit to the communities because they are neighbors. "Neighbor helping neighbor" is how Curtis describes the philosophy of the Responders. "Individuals just out to help." Curtis said if someone has a child who is choking or just fell off a bunk bed, the Responders are there to help because they are right next door. The Responders also hold free CPR classes for residents. This is also an important community service, Curtis said. The Responders have no building out of which they respond to calls for help. In fact, the most they have is a filing cabinet in the Millville city hall. Curtis waved an arm in the direction of his Dodge pick up truck and said that it was his Responder office. The area which they cover is quite large, however. Curtis said the area they cover is from about 1600 South to 4000 South and from 800 West up to the canyon and the deer fence at the edge of Millville on the east. Funding for the Responders comes first of all from Nibley and Millville. Curtis, who was in front of the Nibley City Council Thursday, described how the money from Nibley is spent. $3,500 was given by both Nibley and Millville to the Responders. This is the majority of the funding. The State of Utah gives a $1,996 grant based on the responders AED, or automatic external defibrillator, and the training of the Responders to properly use it. The state also provides a number of other grants. Curtis said they are constantly looking for grants for more funding for the Responders to keep them in the most up to date technology. Curtis said a new defibrillator is needed because the old one is so out of date it no longer has spare parts made for it by the manufacturer. A number of private organizations like Prudential would also help pay for new equipment like a defibrillator, Curtis said. First Responders can only respond officially to an accident scene if an ambulance is called for by the 911 dispatcher. They don't have the authority to move patients and transport them to the hospital. Only Logan Fire Department can do that, Curtis said. They usually arrive first at a scene and can tell the ambulance what to expect, whether it needs to turn around, or if they need two more ambulances. But he said they will be around town, because they live there and want to help. "Every call's different," he said. "That's what makes life exciting."
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