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Clinton EMS marks 30 years

CLINTON — Call him your neighbor.

Call him your friend.

Or just that nice man whose calm voice helped you through your panic.

After 30 years, Leo Mullooly will respond to all of the above.

Clinton EMS celebrates its 30th anniversary this month, and Mullooly, 61, was one of the founding members.

The service started in 1978, Mullooly said, when he and five other volunteer firefighters took the EMT training course. Six months later, the department got its first ambulance, a renovated Cadillac hearse.

The new Clinton EMS took over ambulance services from Schilke Funeral Home, Mullooly said.

The ambulance vehicles are one notable difference between the work then and now, said Mullooly, who is the last of the original EMTs who still works for the department. Today, the 6-foot man can stand up in both Clinton ambulances.

The department responds to car crashes and medical emergencies in the village of Clinton and parts of Clinton and Bradford townships—everything within the 72 square miles surrounding the station located at 145 Ogden Ave., Clinton.

That includes highways 67, 140 and 14 and Interstate 43, which keep the department busy, Chief John Rindfleisch said. Clinton EMS has three or four medical calls per week as well as about one fire call per day, Rindfleisch said.

The Clinton Fire District, which includes Clinton EMS, has an annual budget of $329,000, village Administrator Philip Rath said. The department in 1997 moved into the station on Ogden Avenue from its former home on Cross Street.

The department has 16 EMTs, two trainees and three drivers. Three of the EMTs work part time in the department and the rest are paid per call, EMT Brenda Behl said.

Despite being a small department, Clinton operates with some high-tech equipment, Rindfleisch said.

Its newest “toy” is a 12-lead EKG machine that measures heart activity and, in Clinton’s case at least, faxes the results to the hospital via cell phone.

That way, doctors and nurses can determine the necessary treatment and have a room ready before the patient arrives by ambulance. In a rural area such as the one Clinton EMS covers, that saves precious minutes for heart attack victims, Behl said.

“It’s cutting quite a bit of time,” Behl said, adding that the first 90 minutes are crucial for heart attack victims to get appropriate treatment.

Dr. Richard Barney, an emergency medical physician at Beloit Memorial Hospital, is the physician who oversees the Clinton department. He signs EMT certifications, writes emergency protocol and works hard to keep Clinton on the cutting edge of emergency technology, Behl said.

But Barney can’t help with one challenge that Clinton EMS shares with many paid-per-call departments: a limited number of volunteers.

The training was pretty easy when he got started, Mullooly said. Now, the state requires many hours of training and ongoing education to keep an EMT license, he said.

“It’s quite a testament to people who are willing to do that,” Mullooly said. “Truthfully, I don’t know why anybody would want to do it.”

While the job takes a lot of dedication, it offers a lot of satisfaction, namely from helping people, Mullooly said.

It’s also good training for handling emergencies that pop up in a person’s day-to-day life. Mullooly has used his emergency medical knowledge when he’s not on call as an EMT, including while he’s working as a superintendent for Klobucar Construction, Beloit.

Rindfleisch couldn’t point to one particular skill or personality type that’s a good fit for emergency work. It takes all kinds, he said.

“There’s not a mold,” Rindfleisch said. “We have such a wide range of different backgrounds—from construction workers to business officials to health care workers. You name it, we’ve got it.”

Unlike other emergency response services, Clinton schedules only a few paid-per-call responders to be on call at one time. It’s getting harder to fill the schedule, Mullooly said, but that hasn’t dampened the department’s spirits.

“We’re small, but we’re going strong,” Behl said.

Clinton EMS Timeline

-- The Clinton Emergency Medical Service is founded. Six newly trained emergency responders and 20 trainees work out of a converted hearse in the former Clinton Fire Station on Mill Street.

-- 1979—Spurred on by letters to the editor and recognition for the need, the Clinton community raises money for a “real” ambulance bit by bit. Funds came in from businesses, scouts and dozens of ham dinners. Clinton EMS buys its first ambulance, a 1979 Ford-Horton for $35,947.

About the time the vehicle fund reached its goal, The Clinton Topper reported an additional $45,000 was necessary for equipment.

-- 1989—The EMS board opens bids for a second ambulance. The winner was a 1989 Road Rescue “Super Medic” for $60,910.

-- 1992—Newest EMT John Rindfleisch, who was and still is chief of the Clinton Fire Department, is featured in a news story demonstrating the department’s new extrication equipment. At the time, he was encouraging Clinton-area residents to take EMT classes to help fill a waning roster. The department still struggles to fill shifts.

-- 1998—Clinton EMS buys a new ambulance, another Road Rescue, for $88,465. In the same year, the Clinton Fire District—which includes the EMS—accepts a $500,000 bid for design plans for a new fire station at 307 Ogden Ave., Clinton.

-- 1999—Clinton EMS, along with the fire department, moves into its new digs on Ogden Avenue. The new building is twice as large as the old one Mill Street on the village’s southeast side.

To help

The Clinton EMS celebrates its 30th anniversary this month. The department is always grateful for cash donations for new equipment. And, like all small departments, Clinton is always in need of people who are willing to work as paid-per-call EMTs.

To learn more, call Chief John Rindfleisch at (608) 676-5550.