How long can you hold your breath to survive?

What's your body count? How long can you hold your breath? How long can you go without a heart beat? How long will you let your child bleed? How long are we going to go on suffering with this total debauchery we call Emergency Medical Service (EMS)?

Why don't we start calling it Eventual Medical Service? This state has become ridiculous with its standard of care. We don't even allow paramedic units to transport when our volunteers can't get an ambulance out.

I'm not here to bash our volunteers. By far, they have done this state and our community well for many years. If you're a volunteer, know that I fully understand what it takes to do this kind of work and what sacrifices you make to provide these services. If you're an emergency medical technician (EMT), you know how much time someone has when they are in cardiac arrest. So, when you can't meet the challenges before you, then it's time to stop, figure out what's wrong and do the right thing for everyone.

I was a volunteer for some time serving both in EMS and fire. I have worked professionally for 20-plus years. So when I'm in my fire station on duty, I hear numerous calls throughout the day. Some first aid squads can go as many as eight alerts before they bother to turn it over to a mutual aid squad from another town, which can't get out because they have their own calls to contend with.

Understand why I'm upset? Can you hold your breath for 50 minutes or more?

Many fire companies have seen similar problems. They can't get trucks out, so they put on paid crews with four or five firefighter/EMTs. In Millstone we have a paid fire department with firefighter/EMTs. Recently, while away on duty working in my fire station, which is not in Millstone, an emergency occurred where my wife was seriously injured in Millstone. Unconscious with four broken ribs, a punctured lung and a bleed on the brain, she laid there for more than 25 minutes before EMTs from the local first aid squad could get a crew together to respond. All this while five firefighter/EMTs sat in a firehouse a few miles away and listened to the call. Do they respond and perform lifesaving intervention prior to the arrival of the ambulance? No, they aren't allowed. In any other state that may seem strange, but not here.

We have seriously dropped the ball in Millstone and in many towns across New Jersey. Our local volunteers, politicians and state representatives have turned a blind eye for many years. They know that our system is failing in so many ways, but do they do anything about it on a local or state level? No. They can only hide behind the volunteer shadow for so long before some lawsuit makes it to the Supreme Court that makes us change it. How can a first aid squad in any town allow even one call to go unanswered? How can our first aid squad think that 20 minutes to respond to an unconscious or cardiac arrest isn't a serious problem?

How come there aren't alarms going off all across this state? Is there a rule of how many have to die at an intersection before we put a traffic signal? I can't begin to think of the body count going on in this state let alone my own community. How many people have to die before we do something about it?

In Millstone our fire department has beautiful equipment. Our fire trucks carry the latest EMS gear including defibrillators. So how long can you go without a heart beat? About six minutes. So why do our firefighter/EMTs sit there when someone in our community falls to cardiac arrest or any medical emergency?

Over one year ago this problem was brought to the attention of the mayor and the Township Committee. They assured us at a meeting that it would be addressed. Over a year later and some first aid calls unanswered, I'm told that the first aid squad and fire departments are talking. What a conversation that must be that it takes over a year to decide whether or not they are going to allow the firefighters to help them. While they are stalling, people could be dying. Doesn't our squad feel a little horrified at that?

I realize that even if a fire crew is dispatched right away it still may not be able to save someone, but if you dispatch emergency services at the time of the call and someone responds within a minute, your chances of survival have greatly increased. Under our current system, particularly in Millstone, your chances of surviving a cardiac arrest are almost zero. I realize that the volunteers provide a vital service. However, if you don't have the resources to get an ambulance out every hour of every day within two minutes, you should provide how-to classes for the public so they can at least do something before you arrive. Or you could go to you local fire department that has career staff just sitting there and ask to supplement your services so that our fellow neighbors have a chance of survival.

You should be ashamed of yourself. Have you asked yourself what your body count is? One day you or someone you care about will be on the floor not breathing, saying, 'Damn, that guy was right - I can't hold my breath for more than six minutes. I should have done something to ensure that someone is coming."

We should all be ashamed to allow this to go on in this state, in our communities, and to our neighbors. We put more emphasis on potholes and Paris Hilton than we do our own lives, and ironically neither of the former would matter much once we're dead.

I want to apologize to my family and my fellow neighbors for not speaking up sooner. While I'm away protecting others, who's protecting my family? I hope our mayor and our town's emergency service can put their pride aside and do what's best for my family and my fellow residents before more people die needlessly.

If you're mad like me, be at the next town meeting or our fire commissioner meeting in Millstone and tell them you want changes to protect your family. Ask your mayor why our fire and EMS haven't been merged together to provide a streamlined service? Ask why we may spend more tax moneys on a second fire station when with a few modifications we could have a combination fire/EMS building on both sides of the community. Merging would save this town millions in the long run, and hey, it just might save a few lives. I had to say it because other than pot holes and Paris Hilton, having to pay more taxes always gets people to town council meetings. I'll see if I could get Paris to show up if it would get the whole town there.

Frank Malanga

Millstone