Talk:Christmas Valley, Oregon

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[edit] EMT info moved here from mainspace

Christmas Valley is considered "frontier" (there is urban, suburban, rural and frontier) as far as EMS is concerned. Serious and life threatening trauma and medical patients are flown by helicopter since ground transport can take two hours in good weather and 4 in bad weather. The cost of the air ambulance is about $8,000 is not often covered by medical insurance. In many frontier area there is a yearly subscription service that will pay for air ambulance service throughout the country. Most of Christmas Valley and Lake County covered by AirLife out of St. Charles Medical Center in Bend.

The North Lake County Ambulance Service is staffed by volunteers who have other jobs. There are no full time EMT's. Because of this response times to the scene can be long. If there are no volunteers available then Silver Lake Ambulance is asked to respond. They are also volunteers.

The level of certification of the volunteers is mostly EMT-B's with some EMT-I's and recently (2007) one Paramedic which is rare since the training level of a Paramedic is tough to keep up in the rural areas.

Expectations of tourists is often the same as that of a small city. It is assumed incorrectly that if they have a medical emergency an ambulance will be there in a matter of minutes. This is a common misconception. In frontier areas EMS is hindered by great distances. Even calling 911 in frontier areas is hit and miss as cell phone service is almost non existent.

This is very interesting, but first of all, it appears to be original research, in other words, it is based on personal observation rather than on citations from reliable sources. Also, I believe it is giving undue weight to a topic that may not be encyclopedic. You have to think in terms of "If I were to look up 'Christmas Valley' in Encyclopedia Britannica, what kind of information would I find?" Some of this information might be able to be included, but ideas about where else this info could be published are welcome. Perhaps Wikitravel? Katr67 (talk) 20:02, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

I agree most of this should not really be here. It is OR and seems more like a blog/complaint about tourists. About one or two sentences covering the fact that: who provides ambulance service, the ambulances are staffed by volunteers, with air-ambulance service out of Bend would be about it, if properly sourced. The rest is not encyclopedic. Aboutmovies (talk) 22:08, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

I put this in there as I am the only Paramedic in Lake County. It is not original research but actual live experience. We are getting more and more elderly that are moving into the area and they are shocked when the ambulance takes an hour to get to them after they have called 911. People who visit the area of which there are many get injured especially at the dunes recreation area. Many times they are flown out by air ambulance and their $500 weekend is now an $8000 weekend that insurance won't cover. I can see why this shouldn't be in there but I felt that information is a good thing especially when a life is in the balance.Cnk coleman (talk) 00:31, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

No, this is exactly what makes up original research, follow the blue link and read all about it. It's not that it is accurate or true, its that you are reporting your experiences. Wikipedia does not want your experiences, Wikipedia wants the experiences and information contained in published, reliable sources such as magazines, newspapers, books, etc. that have some sort of editorial oversight. If you would like to add your personal experiences, you might try Wikinews where personal reporting is encouraged. As to people moving there ought to know, again this is not a travel or re-location service, this is an encyclopedia, see WP:NOT for what Wikipedia tries to keep out. If you want people to know about this issue, I would suggest contacting the local chamber of commerce or tourism council, or write a letter to the editor of the local and regional newspapers. But Wikipedia is not the place for this information. Aboutmovies (talk) 05:50, 30 January 2008 (UTC)