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EMS Drivers Keeping Busy During Winter Weather

Posted at 5:31 PM, Jan 21, 2013
and last updated 2013-01-21 20:53:28-05

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Snowy days like Monday are always busy for first responders.

They have to be ready at a moment’s notice – and in winter weather, those moments can come quick and often.

The Life EMS Ambulance Control Center in Grand Rapids is at the ready on days like this – tracking 11 of its crews and taking calls about any accident in the area.

Driver Molly Rookus spent Monday morning working a major pile-up on I-96 East.

It’s just another day in the life during a Michigan winter.

“They tend to come in spurts,” she says, “where you may have a whole bunch of accidents that happen at once, especially when you have white-out conditions. Then it may settle down for a little bit.”

But not Monday.

During a ride-along with Molly and her crew Monday afternoon, we get called to a nasty-looking crash on Highway 131 North. Thankfully, nobody’s hurt.

But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing for responders to do.

The people involved in the wreck are still brought into the back of the ambulance to get bumps and bruises tended to. More importantly, they can stay warm, talk, and laugh as they wait to go home.

Life EMS Ambulance recommends these Winter Weather Safety Tips for your home and for travel.