Nevada County’s Emergency Medical Care Committee serves in an advisory capacity to the Board of Supervisors, including all matters related to ambulance services and first aid. In their 2020 report to the Board last week, Committee Chair, and Penn Valley Fire Captain, Clayton Thomas, said there’s a good paramedic ratio, or one per 12-thousand residents. And that year, he says first responders witnessed the introduction of fentanyl into the county’s drug supply…

click to listen to Clayton Thomas

But Thomas also notes 78 NARCAN applications kept those numbers from climbing much higher. And, of course, 2020 also marked the start of the pandemic and its impact on how to respond to medical emergencies. That included finding enough personal protective equipment, initially…

click to listen to Clayton Thomas

Thomas says there are around 85-hundred 9-1-1 calls to respond to each year, with around 65-hundred needing transport to a hospital.