SYMMES TOWNSHIP -- Sixty seconds isn't a lot of time -- unless you have heart trouble, shortness of breath and a paramedic is on the way.
But it's a margin of 60 seconds by which a paramedic on a bicycle beat the Loveland-Symmes Fire Department ambulance dispatched at the same time to 88-year-old Dorothy Heslar's Riverside Drive home last week.
She came home from the hospital Monday, the same day the fire department officially unveiled its newest program: paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) on bicycles patrolling the Loveland bike trail and surrounding parks and neighborhoods. Numerous cities nationally, including Phoenix, Ariz., and Las Vegas, have bike medical units, but Loveland-Symmes Fire Battalion Chief Terry Lewis said he knew of no other similar programs locally. The department has been doing trial runs for about a month but began routine patrols Monday. Mrs. Heslar's case was the second trial-run incident in which the paramedic on bicycle arrived at the scene before the ambulance.
"When I got short of breath I thought, "Oh my,' I wasn't sure if it was going to be my last one," said Mrs. Heslar,whose son called emergency services. Lt. Steve Oughterson, the bike paramedic who treated Mrs. Heslar, said her case illustrates how every second counts during a medical emergency.
Officials say the bike patrollers will work nights, weekends and special events, including the U.S. Elite Road Cycling Championship time trials Thursday, and JulyFest and Tour de Loveland events.
The bikes might be especially useful in responding to medical emergencies in crowds, where vehicles have limited access, and for injuries off-trail, where many people hike and sleigh ride.
The bikes are equipped with trauma dressing, bandages, blood-pressure monitors, stethoscopes, surgical gloves, ice packs and medicines for allergic reactions and preliminary cardiac care. The $1,200 bikes were financed through the Loveland Firefighters' Association.
The department recently applied for a state EMS grant for two portable defibrillators, which cost between $2,500 and $5,000.
"It's very busy here in the summer, especially on the weekends, and with limited access it could be very advantageous," said Dave Morgan, 32, a runner preparing for his trail run Monday near his Loveland home.
