Maple Fest 2007 - Part 2

The Maple Fest turned out good despite typical Maple Fest weekend weather: a steady drizzly rain and mid 50s. I have been on this "promote EMS" kick recently and was disappointed to find out that our staged ambulance was parked quite a ways from the main center of the event. My hope was that we could get a chance to talk to some people about what we do.

As it turned out on Sunday, the final day of the festival, we got to do some promotional things. There was a giant parade and we had an (off-duty)ambulance, preceded by a lot of AmCare's EMTs kids walking with an AmCare balloon-laden wagon, throwing candy to the crowd. My daughter April, who is six, had the time of her life, even though later she told me that the bad part of being in a parade is that you don't get candy!

While the crowd was waiting for the parade to start, we got an e-call and had to disrupt things temporarily to zing through town running code-3. The call turned out to be nothing (false medical alarm), but nobody there knew that, so it looked as though we were doing something other than just sitting there.

After the parade, we moved our duty ambulance much closer to the event's center, next to St. Albans City Fire Department's main truck (311). The two vehicles and crew parked together generated a lot of interest, especially from the kids. The fire truck was a big hit with parents, who took snapshots of their little-ones sitting up in the cab. Meanwhile, I gave several tours of the ambulance, and I was happy to explain to people that we are a mobile treatment center, not just a ride to the hospital. A lot of people didn't know that, and seemed pleasantly surprised to learn a little more about what we do. I also got to walk around with the crowd and talk to a lot of the local people. All in all, the 2007 Vt. Maple Festival was a good time and a success. I hope to be posting some pics here soon.