Those of you who read this report every month are likely well versed in reading about the training and the hall duties and the need for donations and all the other the other meanderings that we report on a monthly basis. In this report, let’s wander down the path of being a volunteer and what that really means. Let’s start with the demographics of the department.
The WRES volunteers are a group of 45 active, random citizens who live on Signal Mountain. We come together from all walks of life. We are men and women who range in ages from 18 years old to over 70 years old. And while we all spend a fair amount of time every month on various activities associated with the emergency service, we all have real jobs in order to pay our bills and feed our families and so forth.
Now that you have a general idea of the membership, let’s take a look at what a random month of calls looks like for all involved. Each of us has a pager or an app on our phones that can go off at any moment - day or night - and we have no idea when that might happen or what the incident may involve yet, everyone is generally ready.
Here is what the month of May looks like from a member’s point of view.
May 02, 5:40 p.m. We receive notification of a fall victim incident. This can mean anything from a fall off a ladder while cleaning gutters to a fall off the bluff at Edward’s Point that would require us to slog off through Prentice Cooper State Forest with a team and equipment. In the latter case, there is no street address associated with the call - only GPS coordinates so, this is probably going to be something more difficult.
May 03, 3:39 a.m. We receive notification of a motorcycle accident on Taft Highway. As this is a single male and only one vehicle (the motorcycle) involved, we know it is likely a medical incident with a small fuel spill. The 911dispatch center confirms fire response is needed so up and out and off we go to see what needs to be done.
May 04, 7:20 p.m. A call goes out about a tree near Boston Branch that has fallen across the road and has power lines entangled in the tree. You may be at home wondering why is the power out. We get a crew and a truck on the road ready with chain saws to meet the EPB crew on the road. Once they insure the power is out on the downed lines, we can proceed to cut the tree and clear the road so they can then restore the power. It does not matter that it is pouring rain and we are just sitting down to dinner - someone responds.
May 09, 2:53 p.m. It has been quiet for five days when we receive notice that a hiker has been separated from his or her group in Prentice Cooper State Forest and is now lost. Oh, by the way, this is an 8-year-old diabetic with a black jacket and red Adidas. Now, Prentice Cooper is a large area, and we have to go find a small child somewhere in the woods on one of the many trails that crisscross the area. Many of our volunteers leave work and head for the woods.
May 11, 2:06 p.m. A residential fire alarm goes off with a report of carbon monoxide build-up in the home. Off we go with a rescue truck, oxygen and a gas meter. We use the gas meter to read the content of the air in the house, and it will tell us if the breathable air in the house is dangerous or if it is safe to enter the house. Well, we discover that the alarm sensor is faulty and there is nothing wrong in the house; the homeowners simply need to get their alarm system fixed. Yes, this gets reported as a false alarm, but we do not know that until after we arrive.
May 11, 7:07 p.m. There is a motor vehicle accident with injuries on the W Road. We are notified en route that a car has flipped over near the top of the road. In this case, we have to send a full fire truck as there may be gas or fluids leaking that could catch on fire, as well as a rescue truck that is loaded with special equipment used to stabilize an unstable vehicle and to possibly remove people from a vehicle in order to get them into an ambulance for medical care. And yeah, the responders are just sitting down to dinner … again.
We only provided details on six of the 65 calls that were reported to WRES for the month of May. In looking through the rest of the calls, the pattern continues with a kitchen smoke detector going off, a truck rolled over on the W Road, an elderly person who fell in the house and just needs help getting up, a medical emergency with difficulty breathing, and so on.
This may sound like a lot to the average person, but to the average volunteer at WRES, this is just a typical month. As a volunteer, the worst thing that can happen to you is that you are with your family at Hamilton Place Mall and you get a notice of an emergency and know that you are well over 30 minutes away and likely are not able to help! To avoid this, we keep in touch regularly and try to notify each other when we will be off the mountain. We also strive to always have a crew on the mountain ready to go should anything happen.
Given the type and amount of training it takes to always have volunteers at the ready, it is very important that we get new volunteers on a regular basis. Does every volunteer run every call every day of every month? Absolutely not. One cannot have a life and be available at every moment to assist, but with enough trained volunteers, we can always have someone at the ready when the call goes out for help.
If any of you reading this column would be interested in becoming a part of this exclusive club of trained volunteers, we need you. Please contact us or drop by Station One on Thursday night, meet the team and submit your application. There are times when we can just use volunteers to hand out bottles of water on a working fire scene, work with us to submit reports monthly or just open up the fire hall and be a greeter for some community meeting that is being held at the Station. There are plenty of monthly tasks that can be done by any resident of the mountain, regardless of age or ability. We can always find something that needs to be done!
Feel free to reach out to us through our Facebook page or call Station One directly at (423) 886-5974 and leave a message. But if you are having an emergency - or even think you may be having an emergency - always call 911 for immediate assistance.
by Jay Heavilon
The WRES volunteers are a group of 45 active, random citizens who live on Signal Mountain. We come together from all walks of life. We are men and women who range in ages from 18 years old to over 70 years old. And while we all spend a fair amount of time every month on various activities associated with the emergency service, we all have real jobs in order to pay our bills and feed our families and so forth.
Now that you have a general idea of the membership, let’s take a look at what a random month of calls looks like for all involved. Each of us has a pager or an app on our phones that can go off at any moment - day or night - and we have no idea when that might happen or what the incident may involve yet, everyone is generally ready.
Here is what the month of May looks like from a member’s point of view.
May 02, 5:40 p.m. We receive notification of a fall victim incident. This can mean anything from a fall off a ladder while cleaning gutters to a fall off the bluff at Edward’s Point that would require us to slog off through Prentice Cooper State Forest with a team and equipment. In the latter case, there is no street address associated with the call - only GPS coordinates so, this is probably going to be something more difficult.
May 03, 3:39 a.m. We receive notification of a motorcycle accident on Taft Highway. As this is a single male and only one vehicle (the motorcycle) involved, we know it is likely a medical incident with a small fuel spill. The 911dispatch center confirms fire response is needed so up and out and off we go to see what needs to be done.
May 04, 7:20 p.m. A call goes out about a tree near Boston Branch that has fallen across the road and has power lines entangled in the tree. You may be at home wondering why is the power out. We get a crew and a truck on the road ready with chain saws to meet the EPB crew on the road. Once they insure the power is out on the downed lines, we can proceed to cut the tree and clear the road so they can then restore the power. It does not matter that it is pouring rain and we are just sitting down to dinner - someone responds.
May 09, 2:53 p.m. It has been quiet for five days when we receive notice that a hiker has been separated from his or her group in Prentice Cooper State Forest and is now lost. Oh, by the way, this is an 8-year-old diabetic with a black jacket and red Adidas. Now, Prentice Cooper is a large area, and we have to go find a small child somewhere in the woods on one of the many trails that crisscross the area. Many of our volunteers leave work and head for the woods.
May 11, 2:06 p.m. A residential fire alarm goes off with a report of carbon monoxide build-up in the home. Off we go with a rescue truck, oxygen and a gas meter. We use the gas meter to read the content of the air in the house, and it will tell us if the breathable air in the house is dangerous or if it is safe to enter the house. Well, we discover that the alarm sensor is faulty and there is nothing wrong in the house; the homeowners simply need to get their alarm system fixed. Yes, this gets reported as a false alarm, but we do not know that until after we arrive.
May 11, 7:07 p.m. There is a motor vehicle accident with injuries on the W Road. We are notified en route that a car has flipped over near the top of the road. In this case, we have to send a full fire truck as there may be gas or fluids leaking that could catch on fire, as well as a rescue truck that is loaded with special equipment used to stabilize an unstable vehicle and to possibly remove people from a vehicle in order to get them into an ambulance for medical care. And yeah, the responders are just sitting down to dinner … again.
We only provided details on six of the 65 calls that were reported to WRES for the month of May. In looking through the rest of the calls, the pattern continues with a kitchen smoke detector going off, a truck rolled over on the W Road, an elderly person who fell in the house and just needs help getting up, a medical emergency with difficulty breathing, and so on.
This may sound like a lot to the average person, but to the average volunteer at WRES, this is just a typical month. As a volunteer, the worst thing that can happen to you is that you are with your family at Hamilton Place Mall and you get a notice of an emergency and know that you are well over 30 minutes away and likely are not able to help! To avoid this, we keep in touch regularly and try to notify each other when we will be off the mountain. We also strive to always have a crew on the mountain ready to go should anything happen.
Given the type and amount of training it takes to always have volunteers at the ready, it is very important that we get new volunteers on a regular basis. Does every volunteer run every call every day of every month? Absolutely not. One cannot have a life and be available at every moment to assist, but with enough trained volunteers, we can always have someone at the ready when the call goes out for help.
If any of you reading this column would be interested in becoming a part of this exclusive club of trained volunteers, we need you. Please contact us or drop by Station One on Thursday night, meet the team and submit your application. There are times when we can just use volunteers to hand out bottles of water on a working fire scene, work with us to submit reports monthly or just open up the fire hall and be a greeter for some community meeting that is being held at the Station. There are plenty of monthly tasks that can be done by any resident of the mountain, regardless of age or ability. We can always find something that needs to be done!
Feel free to reach out to us through our Facebook page or call Station One directly at (423) 886-5974 and leave a message. But if you are having an emergency - or even think you may be having an emergency - always call 911 for immediate assistance.
by Jay Heavilon