Last night, Chris Grebe, operations manager of the Macungie Ambulance Corps, delivered a special report to the Upper Milford Township Board of Supervisors highlighting Macungie Ambulance Corps activities for 2011.

Grebe also shared some important information from early 2012.

• 201 (7 percent) of the 3,103 emergency calls answered by the Macungie Ambulance Corps in 2011 were in Upper Milford Township.
• The Macungie Ambulance Corps Special Operations Team supported Lehigh County Emergency Services in the setup and operation of a county shelter during the October 2011 snowstorm.
• 433 students received CPR, AED and/or First Aid training from the Macungie Ambulance Corps. Of those, 158 were local emergency responders who received the training at no cost.
• The Macungie Ambulance Corps is beating the national average for cardiac arrest saves, with a 12.5 percent average, compared to the national average of 7 percent.
• In January 2012, Macungie Ambulance Corps invested nearly $100,000 in four automated CPR devices and a cardiac monitor, to increase the chances of survival for cardiac patients.

Grebe told the supervisors that earlier last night Macungie Ambulance had responded to a cardiac arrest call in Upper Milford Township at which that new cardiac equipment was put to the test.

“It was the first time in my 18-year career that a heart attack patient was awake and talking to us when we brought him to the hospital,” Grebe said.