To All Addressees:
I am always very concerned when public officials and candidates for public office make erroneous statements publicly. I am especially concerned when it is one that could have a negative impact on the public and the public’s perception of public safety and/or related to the critical care of our citizens.
Last night a candidate for St Marys City Council made the statement that the landing zone at the St Marys Airport was the only designated life flight zone in our area. This statement was made in the context of trying to convince those present of why we should keep the airport in its current location. I knew that statement did not sound correct. Therefore I spoke with Chief Gailey today of the Camden County Fire Rescue Department. He assured me that Camden County has 24 designated landing zones (see attached list), and many other areas that are easily capable of being a landing zone. I felt that this information was important enough to forward to all that I knew who were present at the forum (whose email addresses I have), the City Council, and the press, which I believe was represented.
I didn’t want to embarrass anyone, but felt that this correction needed to be made as soon as possible, in the best interest of the public.
Respectfully, Deborah Hase, Post #2, St Marys City Council
Cc: City Clerk
Tribune Publisher
From: Dennis Gailey [mailto:dgailey@co.camden.ga.us]
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2009 2:51 PM
To: deborah.hase@ci.st-marys.ga.us
Subject: Landing Zones
Dennis Gailey, Fire Chief
Camden County Fire Rescue
125 N. Gross Rd.
Kingsland, GA 31548
(912)729-3911 Office
Camden County Fire Rescue On the Web
I, on the other hand, have no problem identifying the author of this lie and already would have had I been there. Who was it folks (as if I'm not 99.99% certain just by the nature of it)?
Nope! My guess was wrong. It turns out that Haney was the mother of that whopper!
Now get this. Howell said that when elected, at his very first council meeting, he would call for a vote to cut the salaries of the city manager and ALL department heads by 10%! A graduate of the Kingfish Feller school of populism, perhaps? Not to be outdone but still showing an amazing lack of a clue as to how a mayor functions in a council/manager form of a municipal government in Georgia, Cyphers promised that as mayor, he would impose as much furlough time on employees across the board as was necessary to do the job.
12 comments:
At the public forum Mondat night I made the statement "the St. Marys Airport is the only 24/7 landing zone for lifeflight that the city of St. Marys has". That statement is true and correct. The county has many, but the city has only one. The St. Marys Elementary School will never be a viable site again. When the old school is leveled an intricate park will be in its place.
I don't see any other places on the list in our city. This election is about what is best for THE CITIZENS OF ST MARYS. In the time it takes to drive to the Winn Dixie parking lot a patient could be already enroute to the hospital from the airport.
I stand by my statement and will continue to use it.
Of course, between the time the call goes out to Jacksonville for a Life Flight chopper and the time it arrives on scene, an EMS box can drive from anywhere in St. Marys to Winn Dixie or whereever with time to spare.
Moreover, do we not have ballfields and the open spaces at the waterpark and who knows how many other suitable LZs that we can get GPS co-ordinates for?
Face it: it's a non-issue.
By the way, I'm confident that EMS responders have a GPS device with them. Any paved road will do, especially a 4 lane like Osborne. All you have to do is call in the GPS coordinates to Life Flight in Jax so that they can radio them to the flight crew if they are already in route. You then have a couple of police cars block traffic for as long as you need the temporary LZ. It happens quite frequently.
Jay,
Ms. Haney made a true statement. There is only one current 24/7 life flight landing zone in the city of St. Marys on the currently approved list.
The St. Marys Elementary School is no longer usable, but the list has evidently not been updated.
It is true that, in an emergency, the life flight helicopters can land anyplace that there is room and it is safe, but preferred operating procedure is to use a prearrange landing location.
I must agree with you. This whole thing is a non-issue. The airport is the only designated LZ for life flight in St. Marys. But if the airport were not there, we would find and designate another LZ. Please tell Ms. Hase it is a non-issue so she can stop worrying about it.
I am a paramedic who works in st marys. Mrs Haney is right. There is a difference between an all the time sight and just picking a place each time. The helicopter pilots have to worry about hazards with new locations. If it is a non issue as you say why did council woman Hase bring it up?
So, when the city sells the airport, they simply exclude about 1/2 acre at the end of Dandy street, adjacent to the fire station, and make that the 24/7 LZ. Problem (that never was)solved.
Jay,
That's right. It definitely is an argument that this is one important use of the airport. You are right, also, in that there is a simple solution if the airport is not there. Ms. Hase made the argument that this is some big issue on that should be brought to the attention of the world because Ms. Haney was somehow threatening the safety of the citizens of ST. Marys. Your point is well made. IT IS A NONE ISSUE. Please tell Ms. Hase to stop trying to make it into one.
But it was not, as Mrs. Haney and pro status quo supporters billed it, a valid argument as to why the airport must be maintained in its present location - witness the plethora of simple, viable, alternative LZs.
Howell said he would ask for a 20% paycut not 10%.
Like that's gonna happen!
Ask Mrs. Haze why she Is telling people we will not get the riverine forces if we don't move the airport. I was at her office today and heard her telling someone. I spoke with a friend in the admirals office at the base. She said that Is not true . They want our area for terrain . If her mouth is open she is lying.
What she said was that when several communities are competing for the same unit (in this case Little Creek, VA, Mayport, Fl, and Kings Bay, GA), the Navy's "Navy friendly" rating of each community is a factor in the basing decision. That's true.
Post a Comment