What's Happening in Stow, OH…

Stow celebrated its emergency medical service (EMS) with a Safety Forces open house on October 7.

Fire Lieutenant Thad Krejci and Fire Captain Richard Smith were among the attendees. The two were also among the first members of the EMS when it was formed in 1990. The EMS department started with 12 firefighter/paramedics, but before that, Stow’s Fire Department did not respond to medical emergencies.

According to Krejci, private companies and ambulances were used for such calls. However, when it was discovered that a Stow EMS department could respond more quickly than an outside agency, the service was formed.

The fire department itself goes back to 1933, when Stow stopped using a private company and formed a volunteer department. However, the city was not as quick as others in the region to develop a paramedic program or form an emergency medical services department. As the number of calls increased and the need grew, the city created the department.

Stow’s first response vehicle was an SUV, and it also bought two ambulances. The figures show that medical calls were much more frequent than calls for fire emergencies. In 2014, there were almost 3,700 calls for help, of which 2,700 required a response by the EMS.

City officials might consider working with a brochure printing company to create a booklet about the history of the EMS department to use as a recruiting aid.