By Victoria Villanueva-Marquez
The Bradenton Herald
MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. 鈥� In rural Duette, a resident died after suffering a heart attack and waiting 30 minutes for an ambulance to arrive in March, according to the area鈥檚 fire chief.
Duette Fire Chief Rocky Parker wants Manatee County commissioners to approve a permit that allows volunteer paramedics to offer advanced life support services. That includes giving patients cardiac drugs, intravenous fluids or electric shocks to restart their hearts.
According to Parker, Duette Fire Rescue has seven paramedic firefighters with the skills necessary to provide advanced life support, but without a permit from Manatee County Government, they are not allowed to administer that care.
鈥淲ould it have made a difference?鈥� Parker said. 鈥淣obody can say that, but I can say that when we were on the scene within six minutes, we could have begun advanced care right away.鈥�
During a recent Manatee County Commission meeting, Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge said some residents have less access to emergency services, which is one downside to living 鈥渙ut in the country.鈥� Van Ostenbridge suggested that the Duette Fire Rescue District should explore a merger with the Parrish Fire District.
鈥淲hen you have smaller districts, they tend to be more susceptible to these challenges,鈥� Van Ostenbridge said. 鈥淲hen you have larger districts, they tend to be more resilient.鈥�
Duette Fire Rescue seeks advanced care permit
Commissioner George Kruse argued that the merger between the Myakka City Fire Control District and the East Manatee Fire Rescue District has been successful.
鈥淚 know Myakka has better service as a result of a merger that maybe they didn鈥檛 want to have,鈥� Kruse said. 鈥淵ou kind of lose the source of pride of having a Myakka Fire, but it鈥檚 for the best interest of the citizens out there, cost-wise and safety-wise.鈥�
While Van Ostenbridge claimed that Duette Fire Rescue failed to meet the minimum requirements because it does not have ALS-certified paramedics on duty at all times, the agency posted on Facebook that county officials were 鈥渓ooking for anything they could to deny鈥� the permit.
Meshia Richardson-Judd, 66, who has lived in Duette for six years, questioned why the county commissioners did not take an important step to cut emergency response times to rural parts of the county.
Overlooking rural needs?
鈥淲hy should I have to sit and wait?鈥� Richardson-Judd said. 鈥淣one of us should have to sit and wait.鈥�
She criticized the county commissioners for overlooking the needs of rural residents.
鈥淒on鈥檛 make us second-class citizens,鈥� Richardson-Judd said. 鈥淲e choose to live out here. It doesn鈥檛 mean that it鈥檚 a given that we won鈥檛 get services we might need in a more populated area of Manatee County .鈥�
Parker is frustrated that heart attack patients face long wait times for an ambulance. He compared it to being locked in a room for 30 minutes with crushing chest pain. His goal is to treat those patients as soon as possible.
鈥淭hey are right about one thing, in a rural area, we should expect lesser service,鈥� Parker said. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 the thing, we鈥檙e not asking for money. We鈥檙e not asking for resources. We鈥檙e asking to take care of ourselves.鈥�
Parker wants to do more to help the residents who count on him.
鈥淚 live here,鈥� Parker said. 鈥淚 know these people. It鈥檚 a small, rural community. We鈥檙e standing there trying to help people that we know, that look to us for help.鈥�
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