Our Program for Tuesday, January 18th was Fire Chief Curt Mackey and Fire Marshal Kellie Murphy-Ringate. Steve Frazier started the meeting with a Power Point tribute to Jean Gray who passed away unexpectedly on January 10th at his home in Greenwood that highlighted his involvement in Rotary over the years.
President Lou then turned it over to Chief Mackey who introduced himself and noted that he was hired in 2019 for the Excelsior Fire District and had worked many years at the Hopkins Fire Dept. and is a trained and certified. He explained that our fire department is evolving with currently 38 members with room for 50. Recruiting is a challenge to find volunteers that can be available and can get away for fire calls and emergencies. The department has transitioned to scheduled service with scheduled shifts during the day and overnight crews to handle the growing demand for services. Calls are going up with 1014 calls in 2021. Chief Mackey announced that the latest accomplishment/acquisition is a rescue boat specifically designed and equipped for Lake Minnetonka water and ice rescues and the department will be doing some fundraising to help in the that acquisition.
Kellie Murphy-Ringate then did a demonstration of the Automated External Defibrillator (AED). Kellie (longtime friend of Excelsior Rotary) explained that AED’s are readily available in the community at the city halls, Cub, schools, businesses and the airport. She advised that when you come onto an emergency take charge of the situation and instruct others to call 911 while you stay with the victim and for someone to find the nearest AED. The AED will be returned by the First Responders or Fire Department after the intervention. Each Valentine’s Day Kellie alerts all of the AED holders to check that the batteries are charged in all is in operational order. Using her “Recessive Annie” she demonstrated how to turn on the AED and then to follow the instructions and the machine is very insistent and repetitive in its instructions and to make sure the person is laying down on a solid flat surface.
Then using the Recessive Annie she showed how to begin “CPR – Hands on Only” by doing 30 compressions (at 100-120/minute) and then two breaths and to continue for 2 minutes and then alternate with others until responder arrive. A good way to remember is to do it to the song “Staying Alive” that will keep you on the beat and pumping blood into the victim! Kellie urged Rotarians to watch the American Heart Association’s videos on AED’s and doing CPR and to practice tem as a family.