‘The Golden Hour’ — from accident to trauma center
Emergency medical technicians call it “the Golden Hour.”
“The Golden Hour” suggests that a person with a traumatic injury has a better chance of survival if they arrive at the trauma center within one hour from the time of their accident. It’s a goal that EMTs have been practicing for more than three decades.
Response times don’t only include the time it takes for the EMTs to get to an accident but also the time it takes to treat the injured, remove them from the vehicles and transport them to a trauma center.
The Matlacha/Pine Island Fire Control District (M/PIFCD) provides emergency response to fires, medical calls, hazardous material incidents, natural disasters, vehicle crashes, and any other emergency scenario. Last year MPIFCD ran 1,640 calls.
While the average response time to The Center, Bokeelia and St. James City is 6 minutes, to Matlacha, Matlacha Isles, Cape Royal and the Saddle Wood area is 11 minutes.
“Because of the nearly double response time to these areas, a station close to these areas would bring response times down substantially,” Deputy Chief Benjamin Mickuleit said.
The amount of money the district has available to deliver necessary services is based on the amount collected in property taxes (milage rate) in the district’s area.
“Before the recession hit the taxes collected enabled us to buy much of what we still have today,” Capt. Bill Russell said. “Today in the southern part of Lee County, where there has been significant new development, they have additional taxes plus additional impact fees and those areas have the funds needed to replace old equipment. But in the areas hardest hit by the recession, and those still in the recovery stages, the money is in short supply.”
One of the biggest issues facing the department is outdated extraction tools. The National Fire Protection Association regulations state that extraction tools must be replaced every 10 years.
“Some of our extraction tools are from 1996,” Mickuleit said. “One big issue is that the auto manufacturers are using stronger steels in the newer cars and our equipment has difficulty cutting through it – our equipment is very outdated. Also the average life expectancy for a fire truck is 10 years but our oldest front line engine currently in service is from 1995 – double its life expectancy.”
The new state-of-the art equipment offers firefighters lighter weight equipment with more cutting power. There’s also the problem with generator vs. battery-powered equipment. Tools that rely on a generator require more than one person to operate. While one firefighter gets the tool, it takes two firefighters to set up the generator three firefighters for one cutting tool. Battery-powered equipment requires only one firefighter.
“Pine Island, as an island, is in a unique position,” Mickuleit said. “For example, when Cape Coral puts out a call for assistance, they have departments in all four directions to come to their aid. As an island, we are set off and only have one department available for assistance Cape Coral. It also takes Cape Coral much more time to get to St. James City or up to Cap’n Cons and we can’t always rely on mutual aid when its needed.”
The M/PIFCD Board of Commissioners has taken action to ask island residents to consider authorizing an increase to the millage cap from 3.00 to 3.75 mills – a 25 percent increase.
“The millage increase we are asking for amounts to 36 cents per day or $131.75 annually on a house with a taxable value of $175,000, Mickuleit said. “We are doing everything we can to raise funds. A few months ago we did a fundraiser at the Moose and we have other fundraisers scheduled to raise money for new equipment. We are working with what we have but updating our equipment is our most immediate priority.”
The issue has been placed on the ballot for the March 15, 2016, primary election. The last time residents were asked for an increase was 2014.