Letter: Life Support Course will save local lives

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday of this past weekend 45 healthcare practitioners, EMTs, firefighters, law enforcement personnel, and oil and gas industry employees from Meeker, Rifle, Rangely and Grand Junction participated in a Basic and Advanced Disaster Life Support Training Course held here in Meeker. The course was sponsored by ExxonMobil and taught by staff from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. The purpose of the course was to prepare and train those who will be responding in the event of a natural or man-made disaster. Wright State University is nationally recognized for its emergency preparedness curriculum. Their instructors taught participants the basics of responding to a disaster, as well as the technology involved in decontamination, communication and hazardous materials response.
We would like to thank ExxonMobil for sponsoring this course and bringing in knowledgeable facilitators from Wright State University. We would also like to thank the participants who gave up many hours of their time to receive this training, as well as the volunteers who realistically simulated a disaster so participants could practice newly learned skills. Lastly, a thank you to Meeker High School and Mountain Valley Bank for allowing us to use their facilities.
Dr. Albert Krueger
Pioneers Medical Center
Kris Borchard, EMS director
Rio Blanco Fire Protection District