Walsh Photo) Fall Fair Association recently presented the Back Mountain Mobile Intensive Care Unit with two Motorola HT 440 radios for use outside the vehicle. The new radios are smaller and easier to handle than those pre- viously used by unit personnel. They are also stronger and transmit and receive across the Valley. An example of the portable radio power is the ability to com- | municate from the inside of MICU’s building space, { Route 118, Lehman, to the Luzerne County Com- munications Center, served by an antenna on Valley Crest building, Plains Township. The radios were pur- chased at a cost of close to $1000 each. They replace three which were a part of the unit’s original equip- ment. MICU, under the direction = of interim coordinator, Ann Rowlands, has also been working very hard on improving service to the community. Rowlands noted it is presently in operation manned ap- proximately 80 percent of the time, Wednesday through Friday of each week. Around the clock manning is available on at least three days each week with weekend coverage up as well. The hours between 4 and 6 p.m. still pose a problem in terms of coverage. During the month of December, the unit responded to 32 calls. In order to increase communication between the unit and the 13 local ambulance associations it serves, a newslettrer is published periodically. The newsletter is geared toward obtaining feed- back from local am- bulance personnel, as it contains questions for their consideration and an invitation to visit MICU headquarters in the Back Mountain Medical Center. The newsletter is also sent to area hospitals, the Emergency Management Service, Fall Fair and other interested parties. Fall Fair has main- tained active par- ticipation in the growth and progress of the paramedic unit throughout the five years ‘of its existence. The re- cent formation of a citizens ‘committee to oversee operations of the MICU in no way reflects a lack of interest by the parent organization. It is considered a more effect- ive means of managing the unit in the best in- terest of the community. With the purchase of the radios, Fall Fair has proven its determination to provide the most ef- ficient and effective life- support system possible in the Back Mountain. “I was thrilled when I was notified I had been selected as ‘Nurse of Hope’ for 1983,” said Mary Simons of Dallas. ‘‘I don’t know just what my responsibilities will be but I will love every bit of it during the year.” Mrs. Simons recently was named ‘Nurse of Hope’ by the Wyoming Valley Chapter, American Cancer Society, based on her interest and ancer patients. She was applicants by a panel of four members of the American Cancer Society. The competition was or R.N., and took place at Kirby Health Center, Wilkes-Barre. Following an interview by the four judges, each applicant had to deliver a two- minute speech based on teering to represent the Mrs. Simons will now advance to the state competition at a date and place to be announced. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Bell, Shavertown, Mrs. Simons is a native of Kingston but has resided in Dallas for the past 16 years. She has a son, John, living in Connecticut; daughter, Susan, who resides in Orange; and a daughter, Gail Wyberski, in King- ston. She received her degree in applied sciences from Luzerne County Com- munity College with a major in nursing. Now an R.N. at the V.A. Medical Center, Mary was em- ployed for nine years as a V.A., before earning her degree. Mary does volunteer work for the Hospice St. John, usually several mornings each week. She enjoys working at all kinds of crafts and makes various items for her home. Mary’s face lights up as she speaks enthusiasti- cally about representing the local Cancer Chapter as Nurse of Hope for the year 1983. ‘‘I can’t think of anything I would rather do,” she told the Post. As of Jan. 1, the ill and disabled are able to vote more easily with im- plementation of a new absentee balloting law. Previously, ill or dis- abled applicants for an absentee ballot had to produce a physician’s signature. This meant they had to schedule a doctor’s appointment in order to vote. The theory used by supporters of the law change was that those who could get to a doctor’s office were also able to come to the polls. For others, however, getting to a doctor was often expensive and time- consuming. Supporters also believed the old system circumvented a basic Constitutional right - the right to vote. Require- ment of a physician's signature was seen as an indirect poll tax. To be eligible for an absentee ballot, the new law requires only the name, office address and telephone number of the voter’s attending physician. Any questions the election board may have concerning the validity of the ballot will be addressed to the physician. Supporters hope the changes will encourage more people to cast their ballots. Other election changes implemented for 1983 include an increase of $10 to the maximum com- pensation allowed for election officers. Individual county boards of elections continue to determine the actual amount paid but they may now go as high as $70 for Judges of Elections and $65 for inspector, clerks and machine operators. Certain eligibility restrictions for these positions have been eliminated, making more them. This legislation is geared to making it easier for local election boards to staff the polls, insuring more efficient voting for the populace. Both Lake-Lehman and Dallas’ School Districts have been commended by Education Secretary Robert Scanlon on being designated pre-registered school districts in Penn- sylvania’s School Improvement Initiative. Both districts recently completed development of their long-range plans which outline the methods of increasing student Pa. Dept. of Tran- sportation and the Pa. State Police garage supervisors will conduct a seminar for all area state inspection mechanics to review the new state inspection manual. The meeting will be held Feb. achievement over the next five years. The plan- ning method is the first phase of the School Improvement Initiative. “As the schools imple- ment and evaluate their PDE: approved long-range plans to make ‘Every School a Good School’ in their districts,” Scanlon said, in letters to M. David Preston and Richard A. Shipe, district superintendents, ‘‘the 2 and 3 at Wilkes-Barre Area Vocational Techni- cal School, Jumper Road, Plains. Inspection mechanics department will continue to offer technical assist- ance and be a partner in these efforts and ac- tivities.” Scanlon congratulated the superintendents, the districts’ boards, staff, students and ‘‘entire school communities’ for their ‘‘continuing com- mitment to quality educa- tion through School Improvement.” Designation as a ‘pre- attend on Feb. 3. Both meetings will start promptly at 7:30 p.m. A representative from the state inspection division of PennDOT will conduct this meeting, along with State Police supervisors. registered district”’ means the Department has accepted the district’s Long-Range Plan for School Improvement. Once the plan has been carried out and the results of planned activities re- viewed by local school officials and the depart- ment, a district can request to be registered as a School Improvement District. This meeting will be held on two nights to allow ample time for a question and answer period. For further informa- tion, please contact your State Police = garage Supervisor. Local Nine Back Mountain police officers are pre- sently receiving training on the use of the com- munity’s latest deterrent to drunk driving, the Toximeter 3000. The men are taking 12 hours of training on use and another eight hours on maintenance of the computerized breath tester. Those receiving the schooling include Kingston Township Chief Paul Sabol and officerss Gary Beisel, Walter Davis and Robert Jolley; Dallas Township Chief Carl Miers and officer Clark Van Ordern; Borough Chief Ed Lyons and officer Sev Newberry. All nine have previously concluded a 40-hour course at State Police Training Center on the breathalizer system. This week’s schooling is taking place at the Kingston Township Police Station where the Intoxi- meter is housed. The $4500 computer is the most up- to-date device for testing alcohol levels in the blood Istream and is expected to facilitate enforcement of the newly passed drunk driving law. The machine is produced by Intoxi- meters Inc. of St. Louis, Mo. Back Mountain is the first community in Luzerne County and one of only five in the Com- monwealth to have the computerized breath tester. Locally, law enforce- ment personnel are quite proud of the Intoximeter. They boast of its ability to store up to 60 or 70 tests results and return in- formation on any one within seconds of a printed request. They also note the ability of its powerful batteries to of a power failure. Fur- ther, the machine con- tains a phone module option which allows for mechanical problems to be assessed by a com- puter in California, simply by hooking a telephone to the module and dialing an 800 num- ber. The Intoximeter looks like a large typewriter. However, a hose attached to its side is used by a suspected drunk driver. The machine registers accurate alcohol readings unaffected by external forces. Three copies of the analyzer while a memory of the transaction is stored for future reference. Under guidelines laid down with the newly ef- fective drunk driving legislation, a driver is considered legally drunk is his blood alcohol count is .10. A law enforcement person can, however, make an arrest on a reading of .05. HOW DOESIT WORK? By the end of the week when training’ concludes, Back Mountain police will be experts in the field. They are being taught by Chuck Roberts, private consultant, and one of three persons in the state qualified to instruct others on the Intoximeter. The new machine joins the police fingerprinting and photo processing remodeled addition to the Kingston Tov chip police office. It eliminates the need. for traveling to Wyoming State Police Barracks to perform breath-testing. Local police believe it will greatly facilitate their job and allow them to prosecute drunk driving cases with more accuracy and efficiency.
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