For years to come people will be talking about the sudden snow storm of Feb. 3, 2011. For some of those people, the ones who were answering emergency calls, it was a day the likes of which many of them had never seen before. While most of us were just concerned with keeping our front end between the ditches, others were rushing out to help motorists in distress. For those people, this is a way of life.

One such volunteer is Jeff Byars. He says he stumbled into what he now considers his calling. He is currently Bethsadia Volunteer Fire Department’s EMS Captain. Byars is also on the department’s Board of Directors and serves as the department’s treasurer. He is the medical officer for the Cullman County Association of Volunteer Fire Departments, and is licensed as an EMT-Basic by the State of Alabama – Office of EMS and Trauma. He is certified to the level of Firefighter II by the Alabama Fire College. “I wouldn’t know what to do without this in my life,” said Byars. “The people in the Bethsadia Volunteer Fire Department have become like a second family to me.”

In 1992, at the age of 18, Byars fully intended to use his Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certification just long enough to earn money until he finished his education at UAB. He did go on to become a Senior Accountant for Blue Cross/Blue Shield in Birmingham; however, he never gave up his commitment and dedication to the Bethsadia Volunteer Fire Department.

In weather like this winter’s, Rapid Responders and volunteers like Byars, from all across the county, as well as the Sheriff’s Office, City Police personnel, Cullman Emergency Medical Service (CEMS), the city fire department, and the city street department crews have responded time and time again as snow and ice caused wrecks from one end of Cullman County to the other.

There are 26 volunteer fire departments within Cullman County’s borders. Those departments consist of hundreds of trained responders who leave the safety of their homes to answer the call both day and night. These volunteers, along with the city fire department, work closely with CEMS to cover every possible type of emergency — from accidents to illnesses and fires.     

“When a call comes in we are dispatched by either Cullman EMS or county fire dispatch, depending on the type of call (fire or medical). The dispatch center sends out a tone that is unique to each department. Our radios are programmed to pick up on our department’s specific tone and alert us of a call,” Byars explained. “This keeps someone from being awakened at 2 a.m. in Bethsadia for a call that is at Holly Pond.” 

If you fall ill or have a wreck in any of the outlying communities within the county, you will be glad to know that the response times for those volunteers are among the best in the nation. According to Paramedic Director of Cullman Emergency Medical Services, Jerry Sellers, the response time for the Cullman County Rapid Responders is well below the national average. “According to statistics, the national response time is 12 minutes in rural areas. Cullman’s Rapid Responders have an average time of just five to seven minutes,” said Sellers. “The City EMS and city fire departments have a four-five minute response time, which is also well below the national average of eight minutes.”

Sellers says that there were a total of 50 wrecks during the sudden ice and snow storm that struck this part of North Alabama unaware that Thursday afternoon. “Within one hour we had a total of 50 calls throughout the county,” said Sellers, shaking his head in amazement. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” There were 20 wrecks within the city limits and 30 in the county.” All this was in addition to the emergency medical calls that came in during that time.

Sellers made note of the fact that since the snow/ice storm, CEMS has acquired cables to go on the tires of some of the ambulances. “We are also starting to station some of our ambulances out in the rural areas,” he added.

Sellers emphasizes how fortunate Cullman city and county residents are to have the current 911 system in place. “All emergency calls come in to Cullman EMS through a one-button transfer process, which enables us to immediately dispatch the call to both an ambulance and the nearest Rapid Responders to the call,” he explained.”If the call is from any of the outlying county areas, the Rapid Responders nearest the situation can be there in approximately five to seven minutes.”

“Those Rapid Responders are trained to stabilize the patient while relaying important information to the ambulance Paramedics and EMT’s who are rushing toward them — saving precious time and lives in the process,” explained Sellers. “While the patient is being transported the paramedics are able to send information directly to the emergency room, where a doctor can see exactly what the paramedic is seeing in ‘real time’. Especially in bad driving conditions, this ability to communicate is crucial. With the assistance of the Rapid Responders, help is at your side in record time,” Sellers said. “I am most proud of the fact that we were able to handle such massive amounts of emergencies in the snow and ice without missing a single call, with no help from any agencies outside Cullman County, and without anyone going without medical care. That says a lot about how well our system is prepared for emergencies, and how well we all work together to serve the whole community.”

CEMS is a public, non-profit ambulance service, governed by the Health Authority, and managed by Cullman Regional Medical Center, this year they will celebrate their 40th anniversary. “We also have a wonderful 911 Board,” praised Sellers. “They have a reputation of being one of the most effective boards in the state.”

Sellers is also quick to praise the Rapid Responders for volunteering their time to ride along on calls in their spare time to help and to train. Sometimes the Rapid Responders will even ride back to the hospital with the ambulance crew. “Occasionally, if they need an extra set of hands, we will ride back in with them,” Byars explained.

The ice storm required every available set of those hands. Police officers, Sheriff’s deputies, fire departments, CEMS, Rapid Responders and city street department employees were evident everywhere along congested city streets and dangerous county roads as dusk approached.

I-65 was in chaos at this point. “A tractor-trailer truck jackknifed on the interstate near the 310 exit at Lacon,” said Sellers. “Cars were stalled up and down the length of I-65 between there and Birmingham because of both hazardous road conditions, and the fact that there were numerous other wrecks preventing thousands of travelers from making progress on the interstate. “The EMA opened a temporary shelter in the civic center, so fortunately we were able to transport some of those stranded motorists there for the night,” said Sellers.

Meanwhile, travelers on both Highway 278 near St. Bernard and on Highway 157 near the stockyard hill were being literally pushed up the treacherous inclines by city fire department employees. These men were not using tow trucks or winches to get these cars moving, for the most part they were pushing them uphill with their own bodily strength.

Cullman Fire and Rescue Chief Edward Reinhardt was on the scene at the stockyard hill. Reinhardt has been with the department for 34 years, “I’ve never seen anything like this,” he agreed with Sellers. “We had additional personnel on hand to help in the ice storm, and we tried to assist other agencies whenever we could. There were other calls coming in (besides storm related calls) at the same time and we had to give priority to some of them, but over all we were able to assist a lot of people that day,” said Reinhardt. “I think the guys did a tremendous job in tough conditions. The fire marshall assisted the EMA and all the agencies involved worked very well together.”

State trucks were out near the No. 299 mile marker, trying their best to spread sand on roadways that were as slick as glass. The rush hour traffic did little to help the situation. People had to get home from work and off the roads, but the surface of those roads had quickly become a nightmare to traverse. It all happened so fast that most people even forgot to stop for milk and bread.

Back in Bethsadia, Jeff Byars was pulling into his driveway when he heard the tone indicating a medical emergency come over his radio. “I started to back out of the driveway to go on the call and began sliding right away,” he said. “I pulled back in and got in my four-wheel drive vehicle and was on the way immediately.”

Everywhere in the county the same thing was happening. Men and women who could have been home watching the events unfold on the five o’clock news, sitting in front of a warm fire and drinking hot chocolate with their children were instead out in the midst of near blizzard-like conditions. They risked their own safety by pushing and pulling cars that were stalled on the ice, or riding in ambulances with people who needed them more at that moment.

Their training had prepared them well. “Fortunately, we have trained to help people who might be in a car accident in this type of weather and be caught out in the cold for some period of time,” explained Byars. “We train to recognize hypothermic conditions, not only for the patient, but the crew as well.” Hypothermia can occur in a matter of minutes if a person is in shock or not dressed properly for the weather.

“Our goal is to have enough volunteers on our roster to meet any emergency,” said Byars. “Currently we have 19 volunteers in Bethsadia, but we could always use more. Even if someone is not able to rush into a burning building, there are things that they can do that would be a tremendous help to us, like mowing around the fire department, record keeping, clearing around hydrants, or testing equipment — we can always use the extra help, especially in bad weather.”

Byars encourages people who are interested to check into volunteering in their communities.”We are also looking for people who are interested in the medical field,” he said. “We will pay for training for First Responder or EMT certification. All fire training is also provided by the department. Volunteer fire departments are a great way to improve your education and skill sets while providing a benefit to your community.”

“We have people who are retired that are always around in the daytime, or people who work second or third shift who can answer calls when other volunteers are at work and too far away to be of help. We love having volunteers who work nights for that reason,” said Byars.

‰ Anyone who wishes to volunteer with their local VFD but does not know who to contact to begin the process can call 1-800-FIRE-LINE.  This will put them in contact with a representative who will forward their information to their local department.