By Matthew J. Funchion

Editor’s note:  In last month’s View From The Green, Executive Editor Shelley Harms challenged readers to examine the pros and cons of the proposal to construct a new Emergency Medical Services (EMS) building  on Shepard Road.  Her comments prompted a thoughtful and detailed response from life-long Norfolk resident and current Connecticut State Trooper Matthew Funchion.  The editors of Norfolk Now have invited Funchion to present his opinion on the subject as a guest writer of this month’s View.  We hope his essay, which follows, combined with that of Harms last month, will help to stir further discussion so that consensus among the community may eventually be reached. – Colleen Gundlach

In the article titled “Building to Last” in the June 2007 issue, the subject of the new EMS/State Trooper building was raised. I’m saddened to think that in 2007, after years of nationwide informational campaigns about the importance of 911 and early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), there is still a minimalist attitude about EMS. I would like to give you some straight shooting on the topic since I spent several years as deputy chief of the Norfolk Lions Club Ambulance (NLCA).

Second only to the state police, EMS is the busiest emergency service in Norfolk. The NLCA with its 45 or so volunteer members answers around 200 calls per year. The number is roughly double what it was in 1990.  In the last 10 years there has been an explosion of technology advances. Paramedic service is available along with modern defibrillators and intravenous and drug therapies. In 1990, the ambulance stretcher required a minimum of three personnel to lift it into and out of the ambulance with a patient on it.  Now, modern motorized stretchers can be operated by one person. These modern advances take up more space in the patient compartment.

In 2001 I helped then Chief Jon Barbagallo, and the NLCA take delivery of its first brand new ambulance in nearly 20 years, but, up to the day we drove it into the current headquarters building, we were not sure it was going to fit. The front end is within inches of the garage door and the rear is just as close to the wall.  For restocking supplies, training, or simply cleaning up after a call, the ambulance needs to be pulled outside. This is almost impossible in a blinding snowstorm or torrential downpour.  The meeting room rests at the direct rear of the ambulance. Diesel fumes contaminate the building whenever the ambulance is running.  There are no sleeping facilities for overnight crews, and no shower or laundry facilities.  This means that members have to take whatever biohazard they are exposed to on the job home to their families.

Regarding the trooper’s office, police work cannot be performed in a closet. The new building will have room for the vehicles, office space, sleeping space, showers, storage space, laundry facilities, and a decent work area for the trooper and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT).

As for the architecture and location of the proposed EMS building,  there is a very dedicated group of Norfolk’s brightest and best working tirelessly to ensure the charm and character of Norfolk are maintained, and to ensure that the new building is affordable.

Norfolk has an all-volunteer ambulance service, one of the few remaining in the state.  Not only do we volunteer, our ambulance service is free.  When I was deputy chief, the town gave an annual stipend to the ambulance of around $2500.  If Norfolk had to pay two state-mandated EMTs a salary of about $15 per hour, $2500 would pay for about a week of coverage.  Do the math out for a full year and the savings are evident.

So this is also about recruiting and then keeping volunteers.  A brand new state of the art building on Route 44 where everybody can see it will make people think, “I wonder what it takes to volunteer there?”  When an EMS group has an attractive facility and good equipment, people will take pride in the organization. With pride comes longevity.

It’s a group that should be proud.  I’ve been with them and have seen the tears in their eyes after we performed CPR on one of our own who did not survive, and I’ve seen the tears when they did CPR on a child who did. These people leave their loved ones at all hours of the night and on holidays so that everyone else won’t have to.  Each and every one of them will tell you they are happy to do it.  They are a proud and professional group.  They deserve a proud and professional building.