As Salem’s first selectman from 2007 to 2009, part of the job was going to the scenes of emergencies to observe the work of our volunteer first responders. But more recently, my obseravations were far more personal. 

I was home alone and experienced symptoms of a stroke; crushing headache, significant loss of vision, disorientation, weakness and nausea. I was reaching for the phone to call my wife, when she simultaneously called the house. I told her what was happening. She contacted my neighbor, Marshall Collins, who said she would rush over to sit with me. 

I called 911.

It is one thing to see those good hands at work and quite another to find yourself placed in those good hands. 

Years ago, as manager of a 911 call center and then chief administrator over fire and police in Cripple Creek, Colo., I had become well acquainted with  emergency medical dispatch protocols. It all came back. I anticipated the familiar questions: What is your location? Are you in a safe place? Are you alone? What is the nature of your emergency? And so on.

Soon after my neighbor arrived to stay with me we heard the firehouse alarm. The first responders from the Salem Volunteer Fire Company (SVFC) and Gardner Lake Volunteer Fire Company (GLVFC) arrived in short order. They were responding to someone they had known for years. This adds stress to an already stressful job. They didn’t have the luxury of emotional distance in responding to a stranger. Such familiarity is typical for emergency personnel in this small town. 

I recognized Rick Martin and Debbie Caldwell of the SVFC as they arrived first and began to prepare me for an emergency room. Jim Savalle and John Cunningham of GLVFC arrived with the ambulance, ready to transport me to The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich. There were others. All knew their roles and moved swiftly. I felt more comfortable in their good hands, even as I kept my eyes tightly closed to block some of the light and visual motion that tormented my severe headache. We made the trip without the siren to minimize my pain. I lay back, worried about my wife, now driving herself behind the ambulance in what must have seemed like an eternally long journey. 

At Backus the decision was made to transfer me to Hartford Hospital intensive care, requiring a 19-minute Life Star flight. Briefly opening my eyes, I looked at the face of Heather Standish Priest. “Hey, it’s my favorite flight nurse,” I said.

Heather grew up in Salem and was a volunteer under the longtime leadership of her father, former SVFC Chief Gene Mariano. Heather is a celebrated success story in Salem. She decided early on that her life’s ambition was to become a flight nurse. As she wheeled me to the helicopter, I remember how good the cold air and wet snowflakes felt on my face. Each snowflake was a tiny distraction from the pain now moving down my neck to my shoulders and back. In flight, I was once again in the good hands of another Salem first responder. 

We touched down on the hospital landing pad across the street from my workplace, the Office of Military Affairs. I have often told people I like the sound of Life Star helicopters landing and taking off across the street. The familiar sound reminds me of many years in the Navy, with helicopters frequently landing and taking off. Now the sight and sound of these lifesaving flights will take on a different feeling.

After an eight-day stay at Hartford Hospital and some time to recuperate at home, I’m almost fully recovered with no lingering effects from a stroke. My personal emergency was a confirmation of the great work I observed over the years.

Over the decade I've served on the Salem Board of Selectmen, as we crafted budgets and debated major capital investments, we have had important discussions about the organization, training and leadership of our fire companies.  Those difficult conversations will continue, as they must, every year. There will be hard fiscal choices about how to allocate limited resources among competing priorities.

We confront the hard reality that it is becoming more difficult to attract and retain volunteers to make our volunteer emergency management system work and that some level of realignment, consolidation and regional cost sharing will prove necessary. The challenge before us is how to continue to provide the resources our first responders need so they can provide emergency services when we need them. None of this will diminish what we know to be true: Our first responders are professional, effective, and have excellent leadership at the scene. 

To all of our first responders in Salem, thank you for your service and the many hours you voluntarily give to make our emergency response so effective. And to the residents of Salem, please think about those good hands the next time you hear a firehouse alarm or see our first responders responding.

Bob Ross is the executive director of the state Office of Military Affairs and a Salem selectman.