Nov 4 - Nov 17, 2011 www.coastalbreezenews.com ...a Fresh Perspective!

INSIDE COASTAL BREEZEALL THAT GLITTERS A/12ART UNCOVERED B/2ASK SIMBA B/23BEYOND THE COAST A/16BOOK REMARKS B/10BUZZ FROM THE SWAMP B/8CALENDAR OF EVENTS A/26-27CHEF’S TABLE B/5CLASSIFIEDS B/27-28-29COASTAL COMMENTS A/6CRUISING LIFE B/11ENTERTAINMENT B/31FITNESS DIVA B/5FOLLOW THE FISH B/6GOODLAND LIFE B/9OFF THE MENU B/4PEDAL IN PARADISE A/18PIERRE’S PERSPICUOUS B/10READ MY TIPS A/18REEL REVIEWS B/12RESTAURANT GUIDE B/30SOUTHERN SKIES B/20 SPEAKING OF TRAVEL B/13

COVERING MARCO ISLAND, GOODLAND, ISLES OF CAPRI TO EVERGLADES CITY AND SURROUNDING AREAS

Coastal Breeze News Staff

When the dream began a small group of military veter-ans, most of them old soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen, the “Greatest Generation” from World War II, sought to have a fitting ....

The third annual War on the Shore skimboard contest took place Saturday. The event is hosted by Jetset Surf Shop. “We had 26 contestants this year. All true skimboarders who didn’t let a few clouds ... A/25

VETERANS DAY WAR ON THE SHORE

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MARCO?

PHOTO BY VICKIE KELBER/COASTAL BREEZE NEWSThese manatees were caught by low tide conditions in Tigertail lagoon. Carol Bucler, a Collier County Parks Ranger instructed passerby Vickie Kelber to get towels and a bucket. She covered them and stood guard until tidal conditions changed and the manatees were able to swim free.

B/15

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“Dial, Don’t Drive,”but County Ambulances still lack meds

As county and hospital officials con-tinue to wrestle with the fallout from a medical transport debacle that may have contributed to the death of Marco resident Paul Anderson, Marco Fire Chief Mike Murphy wants to remind residents their best bet in a medical emergency is to dial 911.

On October 21, NCH Healthcare Sys-tem withdrew its state license, effective immediately, that allows it to transport patients from Marco Island, leaving full responsibility in Collier County hands. A new, non-emergency transport service, Ambitrans Medical Transport, has just been licensed to provide non-emergency services in Collier County, according to the Board of County Commissioners.

However, the service will not begin before January 2012.

“People need to realize that if you dial 911, we can be anywhere on the island in six minutes. We can run many of the same tests [that the ER does], medically treat you and transport you, if that’s neces-sary,” explains Murphy.

The Marco fire station is staffed with paramedics 24 hours a day, a county EMS truck is housed there and the fire trucks can also respond to medical emergencies. The rub is that the vehicles themselves still only have a fraction of the medicines that are standard on emergency vehicles in other Florida counties.

Currently, there are 12 basic medica-tions on Collier County EMS vehicles. Lee County emergency transport vehicles have 27. Approval for all medications provided comes from the Collier County

Medical Director’s office. The requested medication in the Paul Anderson case was Versed, a ‘twilight’ drug that sedates a patient just enough to allow emergency responders to perform uncomfortable procedures such as intubation. For a comparison of the approved medica-tions available in Collier County, see the list following the story.

The Marco Island Fire Department responds to an average of 3,000 calls per year. Chief Murphy is continually sur-prised by the tendency of residents to take medical emergencies into their own hands. “People say to us, ‘why do you have to send the big red truck?’ but remember, we have a large number of mid and high rise buildings here and not all elevators will accommodate stretchers.”

By Danielle Dodder

The second annual Meals of Hope, Kids Against Hunger event will take place Saturday, Novem-ber 12th at Marco Island Charter Middle School. Within a mere two hours, hundreds of local volunteers will package over 100,000 meals in assembly line style. Each volunteer will have a specific job to do. Adults, children, students and seniors will all work together, there is some-thing for everyone to do. Steve Pop-per, a Naples resident and Rotarian, brought the Kids Against Hunger project to Southwest Florida a few years ago. Since then, he has formed Meals of Hope which is able to buy supplies in bulk, bringing down the cost of each meal. The ticker on their website, www.kidsagainsthungerof swfl.org, shows over 12,000,000 meals have been packaged to date. Various Rotary Clubs, churches and other charities organize a packaging event. A small donation is requested from adult volunteers which offsets the cost of the supplies. Sunrise Ro-tary President, Jennifer Shanahan, is pleased to partner with Walgreen’s on this year’s event.

There are two types of meals, the first is a bean and rice casserole which has protein, vegetables and 21 vitamins and minerals added.

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