First responders report increasing risks on the job

By Patrick Buchnowski
The Tribune-Democrat

PITTSBURGH — Emotions run deep for paramedics.

Saving a life earns gratitude from trauma patients. Losing a life means coping with grief.

Marianne Gontis, of Somerset County, knows this well.

Gontis is supervising paramedic with West End Ambulance Service in Johnstown.

She explains:

"Two years ago I got a letter from a gentleman in Pittsburgh," she said. "It was an amazing letter.

"He was running a marathon in Johnstown when he collapsed at the very end," Gontis said. "He was telling me how well I did my job and how safe he felt. That really meant a lot to me."

As paramedic, she responds to car wrecks, fires, heart attacks, drug overdoses and more. Not all end well.

"When you lose a 2-month-old it rips your heart out," she said.

First responders increasingly see how a heroin overdose can devastate a family.

"A lot of it is drug-related with the families," she said.

"It's not so much the patient because you can usually bring them back. But I see the pain and the hurt they're causing their families."

There also is a discomforting increase is risk to first responders.

West End paramedic Janice Keen Livingston was killed March 2, 2015, when she was struck by a truck while responding to a string of vehicle crashes in icy conditions on state Route 271 in Upper Yoder Township.

More first responders around the country are becoming victims of violence simply for doing their jobs.

Authorities cite an incident in Harrisburg in November 2015 in which a woman lunged at a paramedic with a knife and tried to stab him in the chest.

EMS in Cleveland have instituted a policy requiring paramedics and EMTs to wear bulletproof vests during every call.

West End Ambulance crews now wear body armor.

Gontis said she never thought such protection would be necessary.

"We're here to help people, to get them help no matter who you are or what your situation is," she said.

Gontis recalls an incident about a year ago when an intoxicated man was armed with a handgun.

"When he turned and bent over I saw a gun in his back pocket," she said. "He fell down the stairs drunk."

West End Ambulance Service has about 37 paramedics and EMTs, 11 of them full-time employees.

The service also has five ambulances.

The job of the ambulance service is evolving as more people seek transportation. For some, it's a free trip to the hospital.

Ira Hart, manager of West End Ambulance Service, said many people have few options.

"If you or I am sick we drive to the doctor, but they don't have that option, so they call us," he said. "Is that what we're here for? No, but times have changed and we've had to change too."

Copyright 2016 The Tribune-Democrat

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