Van Buren became one of three counties to enroll in Iowa United ’ s pilot program , alongside Cass and Calhoun . The program currently has 16 volunteers — with a capacity for 30 — and they are trying to recruit new people to join .
Volunteers are trained in CPR , first aid and stopping bleeding . They ’ ve also added overdose response to their list of skills .
They each have a to-go bag on them with an AED , first aid kit , tourniquets and Narcan . The volunteers use the NowForce app , which alerts them to calls in the area . An added benefit of the app is that it comes with a safety feature to let responders know of any potential hazards in the area .
By far , the biggest beneficiaries of Iowa United so far have been senior citizens , who make up the majority of calls .
“ Obviously with the elderly , or our older population , we have more of those types of events and time really does matter in those situations ,” Cline said . “ And also with the falls , sometimes , it ’ s … maybe a fractured hip , but also there ’ s been times they ’ re maybe hitting their head , bleeding .”
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It may not be the solution for every county , but I feel like for us , this is a good solution to help grow our EMS system and supplement the current system we have , to keep us strong in the future . ˮ
WILLIAM CLINE
TOP : An emergency kit used by an Iowa United First Aid volunteer in Van Buren County . Van Buren is one of three counties — along with Cass and Calhoun — that are using this program to decrease response times in rural Iowa .
“ Luckily , I haven ’ t been on any calls with children or anything . One person might have been in their 30s , maybe , but most of them are the seniors , because that population is growing and I ’ m getting close to being one myself ,” Horn said . “ But it ’ s mostly seniors as they make up a big percentage of the calls that I ’ ve been on .”
The volunteers come from a wide range of backgrounds . Some are volunteer firefighters looking to do some extra good . Another volunteer is a physician employed by Van Buren County Hospital . Horn also works at the hospital and has a background as an emergency medical responder and currently drives an ambulance . Cline says the program also helps them find more first responders on the professional end .
“ What we ’ re hoping [ for is ] this program is like a bridge to becoming ( EMS ) certified . We know there are some people that will do this and don ’ t want to become certified , but we already have people in the program that want to go on and become a certified EMS responder , and so this way is — with much less training and certification requirements — this lets them get in the door , get a feel for helping and we ’ re hoping this will feed our other responder programs in the county .”
And while there ’ s room for growth , Cline says it ’ s a step in the right direction .
“ It may not be the solution for every county , but I feel like for us , this is a good solution to help grow our EMS system and supplement the current system we have , to keep us strong in the future .”
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