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Florence EMT not ready for retirement yet

Staff reporter

For 81-year-old Florence EMS volunteer Dale Miller, retirement is not a word in his vocabulary — at least not yet.

The dedicated emergency medical technician said he probably will retire in 2008.

"When this group gets trained and certified, and my certification runs out, I'll probably retire," Miller said.

Florence ambulance service began in 1971 when state regulations became more stringent and mortuaries and private services no longer took calls. Miller can remember when Florence's first ambulance was a hearse. The EMS department was certified in 1974.

"I'm the only one of the original crew still in Florence," Miller said.

His interest began in 1952 when Miller was a firefighter. When volunteers were solicited to respond to emergency calls, Miller was there.

Nicknamed "Eggy," Miller and wife Lois operated their own retail business, Miller Produce, in downtown Florence for 20 years until 1967.

After that, Miller worked for his brother who had a poultry operation, Supreme Eggs, in Cottonwood Falls. For 40 years he drove a truck and later became a foreman.

He was on call every night.

"Back then, we had two ambulances," Miller said, "and we were busy."

At that time, crews responded to more than 100 runs per month. Now the number is a 10th of that.

Ambulance crews were a driver and two EMTs who primarily responded to automobile accidents on U.S.-50. Miller said his crew was proud of its response time — typically two to three minutes.

"At that time, our job was to respond as quickly as possible, pick up the patient, and head to the hospital," Miller said. The EMTs worked on the patient on the way to the hospital.

Today, EMS personnel are trained to provide more services at the scene, stabilize the patient, and then transport to a hospital.

"EMTs can dispense more medications and provide more treatments than then," he said.

The local department covered a large area. Volunteers would respond to calls from Clements to Butler County to Burns to K-150.

"We didn't care about county boundaries at that time," Miller said. "If we were asked to respond, we went."

Before two-way radios were implemented, volunteers had to stay close to their home phones. The first three who responded to a call were the ones who went.

Eventually the advancement of technology freed-up volunteers' time and they were dispatched through radios.

Miller was born in Newton, married Lois and when their first son Robert was two weeks old, the family moved to Florence on March 1, 1948. Since his arrival, Miller has been an active community volunteer.

The active octogenarian still held down a full-time job until three years ago.

Miller has praise for his former and current colleagues and the residents of Florence.

"In the beginning Florence was funded by the county. So whatever equipment was needed, the community provided it," Miller said. It was generosity and donations from the community that allowed the local EMS to function.

When a new ambulance was needed, EMS crews worked with the community to raise funds. Memorials also were instrumental in reaching their goals.

In 1980, the community came through again for the ambulance department when a new ambulance garage was proposed.

"We had a lot of garage and bake sales," Miller said with a laugh.

The veteran EMT has seen many changes in the past 30 years.

Manual blood pressure equipment was used with an air bag and stethoscope. Now crews use more sophisticated equipment that provide other blood pressure information and vital signs.

The use of latex gloves and changes in performing CPR also were among the more significant advancements.

Two years ago, the Florence ambulance service merged with Marion County EMS.

"That was a good deal," Miller said.

In addition to having the county provide equipment, volunteers are paid.

"Before we did it just as volunteers because we wanted to serve our community," Miller said. "We still do it for our community but now we're compensated and that's nice."

Wanting to help others was the reason Miller and the other eight original members of the Florence EMS served. Staying with it as long as he and others have is dedication to and love for their community.

Miller doesn't know what the immediate future brings. He hopes he can continue to serve until 2008 but at this point in his life he's not sure.

"I'll be here to help as long as I can," Miller said, with a smile and a twinkle in his eye.

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