Report by Paula Antolini, March 4, 2019, 6:09PM EDT
This year’s Year-End Totals, Top Responders, and a Special Car 3’s corner:
FOR 2018: This year at Bethel Fire and EMS we had a busy year as we responded to:
422 fire calls
1,488 EMS responses
1,910 total calls
Every year at the end of the year we look back at our annual dinner and call out the top responders for Fire, top responders for EMS and top staffing hours, which is time that you are dedicated to staffing Fire, EMS, or in most cases both. I also have included an update of an article that I think is a subject we revisit (view below).
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Top Fire Responders
Calls
1 / Joseph Schaad / 235
2 / Raymond Kennedy / 180
3 / William Cadella / 169
4 / Scott Murphy / 165
5 / Brandon Gully / 161
6 / Edward Bruey / 126
7/ Mitch Palumberi / 125
8 / Brendan Ryan / 124
9 / Dawson Brown / 111
10 / Ryan McNair / 101
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Top EMS Responders
Calls
1 / Joseph Schaad / 474
2 / Raymond Kennedy / 204
3 / Corey Kaechele / 164
4 / Shani Burke-Specht / 151
5 / Jessica Schaad / 134
6 / Dawson Brown / 110
7 / Josh Pollack / 109
8 / Brendan Ryan / 89
9 / Ryan McNair / 85
10 / Erin Tibbets / 77
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Top Staffing Hours
Hours
1 / David Broadhurst / 3279
2 / Brendan Ryan / 692
3 / Eugene Linnhoff III / 685
4 / Gail Clark / 674
5 / Shani Burke-Specht / 630
6 / Brittany Murphy / 629
7 / Erin Tibbets / 565
8 / William Milkovic / 542
9 / Steve Froelich / 512
10 / Edward Bruey / 509
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Car 3’s Corner
“Support” for the Bethel Fire
OK before you skip the rest of this article, I am not talking about money or equipment or that kind of thing, I’m talking about the support that keeps the members themselves going.
As a first responder in the community people often time go out of their way to thank us for our service, send thank you notes to our fine EMS crews, and clap for us in our wonderful town’s Memorial day parade all of which is greatly appreciated by our members, but what people don’t see is the time, sacrifice, and dedication our loved ones go through to pick up the slack for us, and keep our households going while we’re off trying to help other people.
They are there when we have to rush out in the middle of dinner for a call. They realize we might be gone for hours. They understand that drill nights need to get done – especially required ones. They are there for us when we need to talk through some of the horrible things we might have seen on calls, and they understand sometimes the things we see we’d rather not think or talk about. They don’t mind that half our wardrobe is Fire or EMS wear. They put up with letting us sleep through things they might have planned because they know we were out on calls all night on the ambulance. Most importantly they are strong for us as they watch us leave knowing that what we’re doing is needed and is helping others, but is also dangerous and inherently not without risk.
They do all this and way more, and they do it very much without accolades or fanfare. So I would humbly ask the next time you see Fire or EMS people out in town, or anywhere really, again they are usually easy to spot because as mentioned before, half their wardrobe is Fire/EMS gear, if you really want to thank them, don’t forget to thank the unsung heroes – give a shout out to their Wife or Husband, Girlfriend or Boyfriend, Mom or Dad, and their Kids – whomever their support network is.
I will even get the ball rolling and start by thanking Melanie and Jake for always being there for me. I couldn’t do any of this without your love and support.
To all, be well and stay safe!!
Brendan P Ryan
Assistant Chief – Car 3
Bethel Fire
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