SEOEMS celebrates 30 years of service

Published 12:00 am Sunday, December 28, 2003

During the past 30 years, southern Ohio has had more than 300,000 reasons to be thankful that the Southeast Ohio Emergency Medical Service is here.

The government entity answers the call when 911 is dialed. SEOEMS averages 18,000 calls a year and has responded to at least 300,000 emergencies.

"I think SEOEMS is probably the best value for the tax dollar," said Executive Director Eric Kuhn. "It has saved lives, changed lives, because of the dedicated employees who care about people and have taken training. Our people are out there day-in and day-out to provide the best possible patient care."

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SEOEMS began as one of five federal demonstration projects in the 1970s as a way to save lives and eliminate traffic fatalities. SEOEMS took its first run in the summer of 1973. It is the only project that survived. It became a non-profit organization and was officially made a government entity in 1996.

Today, SEOEMS operates 13 ambulance stations in Lawrence, Jackson and Scioto counties, and covers townships in Hocking and Morgan counties. In Lawrence, there are stations in Ironton, South Point, Chesapeake, Rome-Proctorville and Aid Township.

More than just an ambulance service, SEOEMS employs 195 people, 75 of whom are full-time. The organization has 16 ambulances ready every day and a total of 26 in its fleet that is free to cross county lines.

As part of the 30th anniversary, the Ironton post received in December two new ambulances with some high-tech lights and other gadgets.

"That

was our Christmas present from the county," joked Ironton paramedic Marvin Bishop.

Rome-Proctorville station chief Buddy Fry has been a part of SEOEMS from the beginning. He has worked at nearly every position possible and been on thousands of calls.

"We have seen about everything there is to see. Some people we are able to help and we know without a doubt that they would not survive if we had not been there," Fry said. "People will often thank you later. I will run into someone in a grocery store and they will say, 'I know you, you saved my life three years ago.'"

Fry said that the agency should not be take for granted and hopefully it will be here for another 30 years.

"I think the most important thing is that SEOEMS has given stability to EMS here. People can count on it," he said. "When people call 911, they know that they are getting a stable system that has been in place for years."

To Kuhn, the future of SEOEMS looks very bright.

"SEOEMS has been on the leading edge of technology over the years and will continue to be. …" he said. "This wouldn't be possible without the citizens who supported it and the elected officials that have seen the value of the service."