Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Ontonagon County EMT Ryan Tucker, right, tests out the stethoscope each provider was given on fellow EMT Melvin Majurin.
By JAN TUCKER
ROCKLAND - SONCO Emergency Medical Service Technicians in Ontonagon County were saluted Sunday as part of the national recognition of EMS teams.
Gina Kasten, Operation Manager for SONCO, cited the theme of this years' celebration "EMS Strong-Called to Care" and noted the "exceptional service" the members provide to the county.
The evening began with dinner served at the Rockland Town Hall, followed by the roll call of 26 EMT's.
Kasten announced that the total runs for SONCO through December 2015 were 602. That was up from the 577 runs recorded through December of 2014. SONCO board member Stan Syria pointed out the service has increased its runs every year, despite the fact the population of the county has shrunk.
Kasten listed the number of standby coverage the service has provided as well as community events participation, exceeding 25 in number. She noted that Ryan Tucker has the highest number of runs during the past year at 199, followed by James Hicks at 161. The number of "on call" hours by the top two were 6,434 for Hicks and 4,151 for Tucker. Total on call hours for the providers were 47,011.
Each EMT was presented with a stethoscope which was copper color because of the connections with the copper history of the county.
She thanked the Emergency Medical Service providers for their service to the people of the county and called them "incredible people."
