When should I call 9-1-1 for medical help?
In any life-threatening emergency call 9-1-1 immediately. Otherwise, call your doctor first. Most doctors have 24-hour answering services which will provide someone to call you back to give you advice.
Is Gray Fire-Rescue really a volunteer force?
The Town employs a part-time Fire Chief, a full-time Firefighter/Paramedic, a 24-7 perdiem Firefighter/Paramedic, and a perdiem Firefighter/EMT during weekday daylight hours. One perdiem Firefighter/Paramedic is on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Gray Fire-Rescue is a combination department meaning we have both full-time & call/volunteer personnel. Our call/volunteer personnel actively participate in frequent training activities. In order to be covered by town insurance, local call/volunteer members of Gray Fire-Rescue become town employees, and receive a minimal stipend for the hours that they are actually (for example) transporting patients to the hospital. Of course, these members are usually on uncompensated time such as in training, meetings, support activities, other community service, and responding to non-emergency calls.
What is an EMT?
The State of Maine licenses emergency medical personnel at several levels of training. An Emergency Medical Technician - Basic (EMT-B) receives at least 110 hours of classroom training, plus field experience, before being granted a license. Re certification occurs every three years. Most of the emergency medical personnel in Gray Fire-Rescue are licensed at the EMT-B level. The next EMT level is Intermediate (EMT-I) which requires several hundred additional hours of classroom and hospital training. An EMT-I is authorized to perform more advanced techniques such as intubation, establishment of intravenous lines, and EKG monitoring and interpretation. A Paramedic (EMT-P) has very extensive training (at least 1000 additional classroom hours) and can administer emergency medications in consultation by radio with a physician. Most paramedics have
chosen medicine as a career.
What can you tell me about the Gray Fire-Rescue radio system?
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is charged with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. The FCC's jurisdiction covers the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. possessions. The primary frequency for the Gray Fire-Rescue radio station repeater (license KNHB594) is 154.325 MHz. Because such radio traffic is public, and for reasons of medical ethics, Gray Fire-Rescue and other emergency services always take special effort to limit the nature of personal information which is broadcast. Each ambulance is also equipped with a cellular phone.
A radio repeater system was added in 1998, which allows low-power portable units to be heard throughout the Gray area. Our radio system may be further enhanced in the future to take advantage of the Continuous Tone-Coded Squelch System or (CTCSS), sometimes referred to by the commercial names "PL Tone" or "Channel Guard". Such a system will eliminate interference from other regional emergency services.
What is E-9-1-1?
E-911 is a system that immediately identifies the 9-1-1 caller's address and allows the public safety call takers to quickly send emergency services to the scene. Many times during a crisis, a 9-1-1 caller is unable to provide this critical information. Enhanced 9-1-1's location feature helps minimize delays in emergency response that could endanger a person's life or property.. The Emergency Services Communication Bureau, the state agency responsible for Enhanced 9-1-1 in Maine. The dispatch center at the Cumberland County Communications Center in Windham is the E-9-1-1 answering point for Gray. You will continue to dial 9-1-1 to reach an emergency dispatcher.
Does Gray Fire-Rescue bill for its services?
If a patient is transported to a hospital, the Town of Gray issues a bill for services rendered.
What are the most important steps that I can take before an emergency to reduce possible loss of life?
- Check your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors monthly. Carbon monoxide detectors must meet Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. (UL) standards. Mount your detectors according to manufacturer instructions.
- Make sure that your house number is visibly posted at the roadside by your driveway. The house number should be at least 3 inches high, raised high enough to clear any snow coverage (a mailbox is ideal), use reflective numbers, be visible from both directions, be visible at night and in bad weather.
- Learn CPR. You can call the Gray Public Safety office at 657-3931 to be added to the waiting list. Because of the distances involved in Gray, a bystander being able to provide CPR is likely to make a difference between life and death.
What can I do to help Gray Fire-Rescue?
The officers and members of Gray Fire-Rescue are thankful for the donations of money and time that Gray citizens have given. The town has been able to purchase excellent equipment and supplies.
However, we need more members. We have many opportunities depending upon your interests. Even if you do not wish to become a firefighter or an EMT, there are other support activities in which to participate.
Does Gray Fire-Rescue have an auxiliary?
The Gray Fire Rescue Association is a volunteer support and booster organization which organize social activities and perform fund-raising activities. Some of these donations have been used to purchase life-saving equipment. Also, through their help, members of Gray Fire-Rescue now have dress uniforms which are used for formal occasions such as banquets, dedications, parades or funerals. (No tax dollars have been spent on non-emergency clothing.)
Have there been any major disasters in Gray?
On December 30, 1921 a fire consumed seven structures in the center of Gray Village. Despite bitter cold, the town's fire "company" established a bucket brigade from nearby wells and springs. Through their brave efforts, the large number of crowded structures just east of Main Street were all saved.
During January of 1998, a disastrous ice storm downed trees and power lines leaving two-thirds of the population of the state of Maine (around 800,000 people) without power. Many citizens of Gray were without power for two weeks. Gray Fire-Rescue members participated in the control and recovery effort by clearing roads and power lines of trees and debris, controlling traffic near dangerous scenes, responding to carbon monoxide and other alarms, doing house-to-house health and welfare surveys, providing transportation to the residents of several elder and special care homes, and providing medical and operational staff to a Red Cross emergency shelter in the town serving hundreds of area residents.
(1) George T. Hill: "History, Records, and Recollections of Gray, Maine (Volume 1)".
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