| Responders from East Carbon, Carbon County and Wellington work to free a woman from a tanker rollover. |
The tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001 numbed us, and then transfixed us from the time the first plane hit the World Trade Center to the time Flight 93 went down in flames in a Pennsylvania field.
And it still transfixes America today.
First and foremost in our minds were the victims of the attack and how the stakes in world terrorism had been raised.
Then came the concern for our country as a whole and then for our individual communities.
The anxiety, the fear and the uncertain future; it all added up to a feeling most people in the United States had never had.
Yet standing head and shoulders above everyone were some reassuring figures, some of whom fell in the line of duty during the attacks, others who have been stalwarts of power since that day.
Those individuals are the emergency responders in our society. Fire fighters, police, EMT’s and others were the first on the scene of the disaster. They ran into buildings only knowing that there were thousands of peoples lives at risk. Many didn’t emerge.
That was in New York and Washington D.C., but nationwide responders take risks with their lives to save others every day.
| Emergency personnel have to deal with more than just the injured. They must also help distraught family members as well. |
And that is no more true anywhere than in Carbon County. True there are no skyscrapers, little violent crime, few major disasters and, up until this time, no terrorist acts.
But local volunteers and emergency personnel are ready to give their all, anytime just to insure the safety and well being of citizens of the county.
Each year the emergency personnel in Carbon County responds to hundreds of calls’ Some are in regard to people who are having health problems. Others have to do with crime. Many have to do with accidents of one kind or another. Regardless of what they are heading into they do it with a determination and professionalism that would make any big city organization proud.
But this county has something that many other counties and even cities don’t: cooperation amongst agencies. The Helper Police Department, Price Police Department, Carbon County Sherriff’s Department, Wellington Police Department, East Carbon Police Department and the Utah Highway Patrol often work together on everything from criminal investigations to auto accidents.
The fire departments in the county back each other up and help out where needed as well The Price Fire Department, Helper Fire Department, Wellington Fire Department and East Carbon Fire Department all interchange when needed and support the efforts of the others constantly.
The rescue squads that are part of each of these fire departments also work together well. And the Carbon County Ambulance personnel serve everyone in the area.
One of comments that is often made about Carbon’s emergency response teams is the level of training and sophistication they exemplify. The leaders of these organizations constantly work on training regimens and do everything they can to assure their responders have every piece of equipment they can get to make their job safer and the service they provide more effective.
A great many of the people who respond to emergency sitations are volunteers; they get nothing except the satisfaction of serving their community and helping others.
Few people realize what is required of these men and women. It’s not just a matter of jumping in a truck and speeding to a fire or driving to an accident to see what can be done. All of the skills they need to respond properly they had to learn; training time takes up a great deal of time. In service training, outside workshops and certification classes are a must for anyone serving.
Other areas of involvement are growing all the time as well. In recent weeks more interest in creating a CERT (Citizen Emergency Response Team) program has emerged at the Price City and county level.
Under these programs volunteer citizens would get some training in first response techniques, light fire fighting and some types of rudimentary extraction techniques for removing people from collapsed structures. Programs like this have started all over the country in large cities and are now filtering down to smaller communities.
In an unsure world, one where anything seems to happen anywhere and any time, it is a comfort to know that all these highly skilled people are there to respond and help our community.