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Show Page Eight - The Springville Herald - May 24, 2000 False slmms mrinmnlle ESSrs by Ralph Anderson I started with Springville Police Department in July 1985. On one of those quiet graveyard shifts, I was standing in the dispatch center near an electronic device with all kinds of switches, buttons and colored lights. Without With-out warning, an awful, raspy, buzzing noise belched forth from this device, causing the dispatcher dispatch-er and I to jump from being startled. It could have been a bank alarm, or a school alarm. I was the only office on duty, and I would respond. If needed, an "on call" officer for back-up would be called out. Out of bed I might add. Usually these alarms were few and far between. As 1 look back, on those "good old days", I think how fortunate some schools and businesses busi-nesses were to be tied directly into the police station with their alarm systems. I can also remember remem-ber when new businesses added their alarms, be it fire or burglar alarms, and then they would "test the system for an hour of two. That same annoying, raspy alarm would sound, and dispatch would flip a switch to silence it, then wait and flip the switch the other direction to reset it, and wait for the next test." If the dispatcher were talking to an officer on the radio, often this alarm could be heard in the background. Yeah, the "good old days" but what about the present time? I am the officer in charge of presenting present-ing the Neighborhood Watch program. I like this assignment. It gives rnc a chance to talk to and get to know many Springville citizens. I like the chance to have Springville residents help the police department in any way they can. One idea I present as part of the Neighborhood Watch program is installation of alarm systems in their homes. Of course the time has come and gone when the alarms are tied directly into the police station. sta-tion. If you have an alarm system, sys-tem, it is probably linked to the alarm company, who in turn calls the police dept. Some alarm companies screen the calls before calling the police, and some can tell the dispatcher whether the call is for fire, police or medical assistance. Unfortunately the alarms are not screened as to whether the alarm is valid or not. It is called in by the alarm company com-pany and an officer will be dispatched. dis-patched. I was asked to look at all the alarm calls our department has responded to in the last while. I like to go back some, and look at all the alarms in general. I went back and look from January 1, 1999 to the present. Our department depart-ment has logged over 800 calls, just for alarms. At random I selected any one month and ran the totals. I then tried to sort out the causes of the alarms. It became very complicated, so I generalized, general-ized, during those randomly selected months, the average of "legitimate" alarm calls are three. By legitimate, I mean that a door was found open, a window was found broken, or someone had entered the building or home. Even with these legitimate calls, most were, as we call them, "unfounded" because the persons located inside most residences were relatives that did not know about the alarms. Most business alarms arc because the employee was not fast enough or familiar with shutting off the alarm. The open doors were because the wind blew the doors open. As I look at it, the alarms are doing what they are supposed to do, that is go off when there is a problem. Recently the City Council Coun-cil passed an ordinance about false alarms, and the possibility of fines for excessive false m m CeORftl AIR CONDmONINO BAlOTMOftCfitfOftDfiSlC THAN VOU TH1KK M Air Conditioning Quaky Sank at a Ftir Price' alarms. I am not saying that the alarms are giving false information. informa-tion. They are going what they are supposed to do. Many of the alarm call reports I looked at were activated because an em-. em-. ployee set off the alarm accidentally, acciden-tally, or a neighbor's cat was in the home, or any other amusing situation. The officer assigned usually continues to respond to verify that the alarm was indeed a false alarm. The reason for this is simple. If an officer did not verify the false alarm call for sure, a potential poten-tial burglar (who sets off an audible alarm) could call in and state it was a false alarm, then continue to do what he pleased while the officer went on about his other duties. I know many Springville residents would not like to find their home burglarized burglar-ized and find out later that an officer was on his way, and the "bad guy" called in and told the police the alarm was a mistake. For those of you reading this article who may feel a bit worried wor-ried that you can receive a bill for your one false alarm, don't be too worried. We realize that alarms do go off for strange reasons, or due to mistakes. The ordinance passed is meant for false alarms that go off time after time after time. One officer wrote in his report about a particular alarm that we have responded to many times, "...this is the 41st time this alarm has gone off since the first of the year." It is these types of alarm calls that the City Ordinance was written for, and the fine imposed. A cord of wood is four feet wide by four feet high by eight feet long. A face cord has the same height and width but is only two feet long. Pleasure is nature's test, her sign of approval. -Oscar Wilde Look for the ridiculous in everything and you will find it. -Jules Renard Signup-Mapleton summer waging by Betsy Baird The Friends of the Library in Maplcton are excited to announce the third annual Summer Reading Program. The theme this year is Cosmic Connections. Sign up for the program will begin June 1 and continue until June 20. Two sessions will be held each Wed. beginning Jun. 21 and ending Aug. 9 with a picnic in the park. Those children who reach their reading goals will receive awards at the picnic. Cosmic Connections will feature story programs, craft activities and other special events. It is very important for parents to be involved in their children's activities so all children chil-dren who register for the program pro-gram and bring a parent will receive a coupon from McDonalds McDon-alds for a free ice cream cone. This program is free of charge. Registration will be held at the Mapleton Library during regular hours. Children who turn five years old this year to those in second grade meet from 1 until 2 p.m. and children from third to fifth grade will meet from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the library. The Summer Reading Program Pro-gram Chairman, Sharrell Edmonds, Edmon-ds, is in need of volunteers to conduct the individual classes. If MSUIJJED 93 4 Model AC108-24 Yew Heating, ftk Coo&Hoam? and Air Duct Cam) Professional. Ufe Abo Gcaa Dry Wwts ffah for Dcj RjHacfog JfcaBaMe Eurircsyi&M for On October 11, 1999, the ambulance pagers went off throughout throu-ghout the community of Spring-ville, Spring-ville, and the volunteer EMTs were dispatched to a traffic acci: dent with injuries. The accident occurred at the intersection of the SR-77 and the 1-15 on-ramp, west of Springville. As the ambulance crew arrived ar-rived at the scene, they immediately immedi-ately appraised the situation and went into action. They began treating the driver of the vehicle that was struck, a 24-year-old female patient sitting in the back seat of her vehicle. She had a 3 to 5 centimeter laceration on the right side of her forehead, making mak-ing the skull visible. She began pleading with the EMTs, "Where is my baby?" At that point, the EMTs were ' unsure whether the mother was, confused and disoriented due to the head trauma, or if she was referring to her two-month-old baby or her four-year-old daughter daugh-ter who were both riding restrained re-strained in the rear of her vehicle and were being stabilized and immobilized for transport to the hospital. Immediately the EMTs treating the mother, began searching sear-ching for another baby. At that time, they located another patient, an adult female, in the second vehicle. The EMTs assessed her condition and began stabilizing and preparing her for transport. While EMTs were working on the four injured patients, the father and husband of the Session's Sessio-n's family appeared with his one-year-old daughter, Kelby, in his arms, at the side door of the ambulance, pleading for help. Little Kelby was not breathing when her father recovered her from the crumpled floor of the front scat of their vehicle. The father quickly relayed that he had been following the mother and his three girls in separate car when his wife's car you can invest time in the children chil-dren of our city please call her at 491-6031, or Chris Hash, 489-9790. 489-9790. The Friends of the Library ;thank the citizens of the community commu-nity for their support of the recent re-cent Used Book sale. They were able to raise over $200 to be used toward summer reading programs. pro-grams. If you have books you would like to donate for future sales please bring them to the library. Thank you to businesses who donated: Spanish 8 Theater, McDonald's-Spanish Fork, Read Leaf, Reams-Springville, Office Plus-Orem, Daylight Donuts-Springville, Donuts-Springville, Trafalga and Villa ' The game of mahjongg was first played in China around 2,500 years ago. ' In case you find yourself among the British peerage, you might like to know that a mar-quess-also known as a marquis-is marquis-is higher than an earl, or baron but not as high as X duke. A marquess's wife is a marchioness. Historians believcthe Maltese was the world's first lap dog, developed more than 2,000 years ago. Clean Your Air ! Conditioner or , i Swamp Cooler A $99.00 Vfc'ye ax tA Aey 0u OHor had been struck. Kelbv's father explained that the baby had been unrestrained in a car set in the back seat and presumed, that upon impact, Kelby had been thrown over the scat into the front window, head first. Kelby's airway was quickly re-established. The Springville EMT crew focused their attention on a very lethargic, sleepy child. As her condition was assessed, she was placed on a backboard, with C-collar and towel rolls in place, vitals were evaluated again and oxygen applied. Kelby became be-came very upset and began crying, cry-ing, attempting to pull off the C-collar. C-collar. The skilled EMTs knew that due to the mechanism of injury and possible cervical injuries, there was an acute need to keep v. t m Emii v III I I IhHf. e w m w The Sessions family is shown here along with recognition from the state for a job well done little Kelby in her fathers arms at city council and outstanding performance in a singe inci- last week, along with the SAVERS team that dent, helped to save her life. The team received Mew Blue Mountain Office Plaza OfficeWarehouse Units Excellent Location Can be used for Retail or Wholesale Businesses Leases start at $500 per Month These brand new units are conveniently located just off Main Street at 64 West 6Q0 North in Springville. o Suites 2 & 3 Available o Great for Any Business Call Rich at 489-8357 or 491-7037 1 pjg r p"! J fcyhiSSl IrtfrW-anffirtJ LitoteatJ her immobilized as they transported trans-ported her to the' Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. Cervical x-rays of Kelby were immediately ordered upon arrival at the hospital and the x-rays revealed that she had suffered a C-l and C-2 cervical displacement. displace-ment. The attending physician confirmed that her injury could have resulted in permanent paralysis paral-ysis or death, had the EMTs not rendered such excellent care at the scene. The physician immediately gave order to call Life Flight to transport little Kelby to Primary Children's Hospital. Kelby was flown to Primary where she received extensive medical care which assisted in her full and healthy recovery. Dr. Keith Hooker from Utah : feSf I F. ;". '"1 nun S i.mn)WM jn.iuMwi.- i mmJt linirrt Valley Regional Medical Center wrote a letter otcommendation to the Springville Ambulance Crews, stating if it had not been for the superb care by the ambu- ( lance EMTs, little Kelby would not be alive today due to her cervical fractures. ' As a result of their heroic efforts, the following Springville Ambulance EMT's were given an award for their Outstanding Performance in a Specific Incident Inci-dent at last week's city council meeting. The award was presented present-ed by little Kelby Sessions and her parents to Joey Caldwell, Denise Dallin, Kathleen Gurr, Bret MacArthur, Brandon Oakey, David Peterson, Marsha Rasmus-sen, Rasmus-sen, Amy, Sherman, Joseph Shu-ler, Shu-ler, Jacob Shuler, Roxanne Van-Wagoner Van-Wagoner and Cody Winterton. -4 S J T ' 8.-" "V k. - it r-JL t 't rr i I i Mmmmmmoitmstm .. iMicaq wtyj i m tmimrmi.jl fci I rJ Li fl |