Quick response

I am proud and honored to be able to say that I am a member of the Bigfork Quick Response Unit/Ambulance. We have a wonderful, caring, and dedicated group of volunteers that give their time to help the people of our community.

We are a transporting ambulance service but still use our original name of Quick Response Unit. We still consider ourselves a QRU because responding from our homes can get emergency medical care to the scene FASTER than the ambulance…especially when responding outside the immediate Bigfork area.

Your paper did our organization a huge disservice by printing unsubstantiated information in the July 8, 2004 Bigfork Eagle. You stated in an article that "…because of the late hour and the fact that Bigfork's quick response unit (QRU) is voluntary and had to come from their own homes, a half hour passed before they arrived."

Our dispatch time to the call in question was 11 p.m. Our first EMT was on the scene at 11:04 p.m. That was a 4-minute response BECAUSE he responded from his home. Just 8 minutes after dispatch, at 11:08 p.m., our ambulance and more medical responders arrived on scene. That's 4 minutes until the first responder arrived and 8 minutes for the ambulance to arrive…not 30 minutes.

Untrue comments like yours damage our image and reputation in our community. Your readers deserve accurate information.

Your apologies should be directed to all of our emergency responders who volunteer their time to get up at all hours and leave their families and jobs during the day to provide assistance to those in need.

Eda Taylor

Director of Operations,

Bigfork QRU/Ambulance