The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

N PORT & Pr A . PORT PERRY, ONTARIO -- WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 1977 -- PAGE 17 SECTION Local ambulance service ready to deal with any emergency Seconds after the call comes in, the blue uniform- ed attendents pile into the ~ blue and white ambulance and as the siren wails, -the vehicle lurches out of the garage in a patch of blue smoke and burning rubber, On the way to the scene of some accident or medical emergency, the driver dex- teriously guides the ambu- lance as it careens around corners, through stop streets and stop lights. The only thing missing are boots, spurs and 'a wild 'yahoo' from the cockpit. That version of 'the work of the men of the ambulance service may be big in tele- vision and the movies, but it has little basis in fact. Far from a free-wheeling "cowboy" 'excitement-seek- er, or hotrodder - turned ambulance attendant, men and women of ih s "ambulance services provide a vital link in today's medi- cal care. No 100 M.P.H. "Unless it's a dire emer- gency 'with time being a critical factor, there are no high speed, 100 miles-per- hour trips through the "streets," said Bob DeShane of Brignall's Ambulance Service at R.R. 2, Port EE # Perry. 'We operate under all the rules and regulations 'of the road that apply to anyone else." "Fact is that running lights and taking chances could do more potential harm than good," pointed out one of the four driver- attendants whose respon- sibility it is to get patients to the hospital -- in one piece. The fact that an ambu- lance wrapped around a telephone booth is of no use to a patient isn't lost on the driver, the attendants point out. "Obviously, you have to make a judgement about the critical nature of the "emergency." -- Brignall's service, in oper- -ation-for some 25 years, is one of the approximately 80 privately-operated ambu- lance services that are fun- ded by provincial health authorities. It covers an area of about 300 miles, quite a job compared with other areas where services cover a smaller area with greater population densities. In fact, the job of serving the area -- or any other area in the province - would be almost impossible if it wasn't for a province-wide mutual aid scheme that pro- vides for a stand-by service whenever an ambulance is | out on call, Whenever, ambulance is out on a call, for example, an available unit from Uxbridge, Whitby, or Oshawa is automatically summoned to stand by. The stand-by service is a vital part of the provincial set-up. Moving a patient from a local hospital for more spec- ialized treatment in Toronto would, if it wasn't for the arrangement, leave the Scugog area without an ambulance for many hours. Training Courses Ambulance drivers - and attendants, far from Hell- bent-for-Leather types, are skilled at what they do. Special training courses are offered at many colleges as a preparation for the job, and once an attendant, there is on the job training as well as additional courses to go to. And standards continue to go up. As of 1977, a stiff college examination must be passed to qualify. The para- medical training offered is augmented by a continuous program of seminars, train- ing sessions and weekend updates, as well as series of lectures at hospitals. The Central Ontario Secondary School curling champs are the above rink from Port Perry High School. Back, left, Lee Howsam, skip; Elaine Elliott, vice ~skip; Reg Philip, coach; front; left; Alison McNab, second and Vicky Fairman. a- Brignall - A Brignall Ambulance Service vehicle pulls out of the garage at the Service's headquarters, just south of Manchester. The service answered more than 800 calls last year. The training is invaluable, considering the 800 calls Brignall"s Ambulance Ser- vice answered last year, and that's not counting the ser- vice the company provides on private contract to the people who operate Mosport races. Brignall's is perhaps the largest motor sport ambulance service in the country. During the sum- mer months when Mosport is in full swing, the ambu- lance service hires attend- ants from all over the area to operate the service. Since most of the racing is done on weekends, there is no prob- lem getting attendants on days off. The number of calls ans- wered by the service is growing rapidly. In fact, according to Charlie Brig- nall, the number of calls every year have just about doubled. Reasons for this, he said, is not only the fact that there are more people, but because of increased services offered by hospitals more use by doctors of the service and the increased use of specialized care in other hospitals. Brignall's has been relat- ively fortunate in avoiding the "taxi calls" that can be quite bothersome at times. "But we've been lucky. Most of the people who call us need an ambulance," said Brignall. "I don't think there's been more than a dozen or two calls in a year that might be considered taxi calls." Dog problems not uncommon It looks like dogs running at large is as much a prob- lem just to the north of us as it is in the Scugog-Uxbridge area. Recently, a deer was chased by a pack of dogs onto the Sir Sandford Flem- ing College campus where the panicked animal smash- ed into a college plate glass door. The bill for the dam- age reached $450.00, and the animal gashed a leg in the process. The problem is dogs run- ning at large...dogs that get on the scent of a deer and give chase. In this case, as in others, Ministry of Natural Resources officers at Lindsay feel the deer was chased into Lindsay's southern outskirts by a dog or pack of dogs. The sequel to the incident relates that the deer was released in a cedar swamp bout five miles north of Lindsay after getting patch- ed up at a veterinary's office and apparently had made a quick recovery. Ministry staff members say that within the Lindsay district there is an increas- ing problem of dogs running deer at this time of year. In agricultural southern Ont- ario, more deer are killed annually by dogs than by wolves," the ministry's dis- trict manager, C. R. Gray states. The problem is increasing locally. Under the Game and Fish Students champion COSSA curlers Everyone likes to win, and the four girls pictured above are no exception, On February 23, the girls com- peted against eight rinks in Uxbridge and émerged with the Lake Ontario Secondary School Championship (LOSSA) which gave them the opportunity to compete in Brighton for the COSSA trophy. On Wednesday, March 9, they travelled to Brighton, and there in a round-robin match against ~~ Picton, Brighton, and Port Hope came out on top once again. The COSSA championship now gives the rink the honour of competing in the all-Ontario championships (OFSSA) which are being held in Barrie on March 21, 22 and 23. If these young curlers keep up the pace they have been showing all season, there is no doubt that they will once again emerge victorious. Go get 'em girls. Act, R.S.0. 1970, Section 77 (1), "No person owning, claiming to own, or harbor- ing a dog shall allow it to run at large during the closed season for deer in a locality that deer usually inhabit or in which they are usually found, and a dog found running deer during the closed season for deer in such a locality may be killed -on sight by a conservation officer." Oddfellows pilgrimage for youth By Joy Panabaker It will soon be time for the annual Oddfellows and Rebekah's United Nations * Pilgrimage for Youth. The pilgrimage is spon- sored each year by the organization and provides an excellent opportunity for young people from all over Ontario to learn about the United Nations and meet new friends at the same time. For several years, the Warriner Lodge in Port Perry has sent a represent- ative from the Scugog area. The student first writes a general knowledge quiz on the U.N. and then enters a (continued on page 22)