
Collier County EMS Med Flight paramedics load a young patient, who suffered trauma at his home on Marco Island on July 8, for transport to a St. Petersburg Trauma Center. Photo by Jim Sousa
As is often the case, residents are not always aware of the many times that Marco Island Fire and Police Departments respond to emergency calls. Last week, during a 48-hour period, emergency personnel handled a

Responders at the scene of a truck accident on N. Collier near Yellowbird. Photo by Jim Sousa
That same afternoon, the call went out for responders to aid a gentleman who had stepped out onto the roof at his hi-rise condo unit at 1001 South Collier Blvd., and had been unable to get back into his apartment.
The following day, Thursday, July 8, MIFD worked together with Collier County Emergency Medical Service to Med Flight a young patient, who had suffered a traumatic injury at his home on Marco Island, to a trauma center in St. Petersburg. Later that day, a driver crashed

Emergency personnel depicted are (L-R) MIFD Battalion Chief Kutzke, MIFD Deputy Chief Byrne, MIPD Sergeant Williams and MIPD Reserve Officer Rich Stoltenborg. Photo by Jim Sousa
The Marco Island Fire Department is at the forefront of working closely with Collier County EMS in trauma cases. Fire Department Chief Murphy insists on having two EMS personnel as well as a driver engineer on board each time one of the MI fire tricks goes out on a call. All MI fire trucks are equipped with life support systems, so that advance life support can begin before county EMS arrive on scene.
Marco Island Fire Division Chief, Don Jones, told Coastal Breeze News that readers may be surprised at the frequency of trauma calls to our emergency services. During one week this past May, the department experienced a particularly high volume of trauma calls in one week. He said a high percentage of the calls involve elderly drivers.
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