Charles "Chuck" Wood took the first emergency medical run in New Castle on Dec. 8, 1944. The ambulance service ran out of Fire House Station No. 2 at the corner of 18th Street and Grand Avenue. At the time, the emergency service focused on transporting patients to the hospital as quickly as possible where they could get more definitive treatment.
Almost 71 years later, New Castle-Henry County Emergency Service dispatches 29 part-time and full-time paramedics and emergency medical technicians out of a dedicated four-bay facility on I Avenue. The EMS station sits in the geographic center of New Castle and dispatches paramedics and emergency medical technicians to the edges of the city in minutes. Their advanced life support ambulances are now equipped with heart monitors and a bevy of life-saving medications.
New Castle-Henry County EMS Chief Ron Burns is inviting the public to visit the station at 1315 I Ave. from 1-4 p.m. Saturday to help celebrate seven decades of service to the community. Light refreshments will be available. New Castle paramedics and EMTs will provide tours and demonstrations of the emergency equipment. Chuck Wood's daughter, Jackie Thomas, will also be at the open house event.
Local taxes go toward EMS personnel and utility costs. Burns pointed out that the EMS equipment and building itself, on the other hand, are paid for by voluntary donations. Although the New Castle-Henry County EMS does not do fundraising events, Burns said the service continues to receive donations from the community. Some obituaries ask friends and family to send memorial contributions to the city EMS as a way to remember their loved one.
According to Henry County Community Foundation Executive Director Beverly Matthews, the city EMS has received more than $220,000 since 1998 from the Foundation. The Edith Smith Trust Fund, the Henrico Bennett House Endowment, the Robert E. and Mildred T. Garner Fund, and the Cora E. Foust Trust have all designated a portion of their endowments to support the New Castle-Henry County EMS.
"It's a steady income that they can depend on," Matthews said. "That builds strength."
For more information about New Castle-Henry County EMS, call 765-521-6860.
