I am submitting this letter in response to the mother of the child that was choking in the Quartz Mountain area off of Shake Ridge Road (Sept. 30, "Responding to no response"). Being in the Amador County fire service for over 20 years, and also working for American Legion Ambulance Co. for the last 13 years, I truly find it hard to believe that you would even suggest that people in our line of work "don't care." Why is it we do the job we do? It sure is not for the money. It is because we care about our community and human life. I understand that being in an emergency situation can be very stressful. But to accuse the first responders of not caring is unjustified and very hurtful.

For your information, let me explain something about the EMS agencies in your county. First of all, all fire departments except Cal Fire are volunteer agencies. There is not paid staff, as you suggested in your letter. That was voted down in Measure L in the last ballot. Even the fire department that I belong to in Jackson only has paid staffing from 1800 hours on Fridays to 1800 hours on Sundays. The pay that we receive is not even minimum wage, but we still do it. Why? Because we care.

If you or the citizens of Amador County want paid staff responding, then everyone (including you) needs to step up to the plate this November and make sure to vote yes on Measure M. As for the people of American Legion Ambulance, I know every one of them personally and professionally. They are the most caring and compassionate people I have ever met.

I remember this call when it went out. There was an ambulance, a Cal Fire engine and your volunteer fire department all responding to your 911 call. Everyone was cancelled en route by personnel at the scene. American Legion runs five ambulances in our county. They are located in Sutter Hill, Ione, Plymouth, Pine Grove and Pioneer. If one unit is already responding to an emergency 911 call and the next call is dispatched, the closest unit will respond to the new emergency. This is why first responders are dispatched and are so important to our system. Their main goal on medical emergencies is to provide basic life support (BLS) until advanced life support (ALS) can arrive via paramedics. In our county, the local volunteer fire departments are wonderful at getting to the scene quickly and rendering excellent emergency care.

Getting back to your comment about response time, we live in a rural community and I don't think there is an area more rural in this county than where you live. Except maybe for the national forest. We all might want it during times of crisis, but there will not always be an ambulance or fire service within 10 minutes from our homes. If that is what a person wants or needs, I suggest they live closer to town.

With all that said, I am so happy your child is OK. Being a father, I understand how stressful that would have been. And furthermore, if it was something that was an error on the part of EMS services in Amador County, I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart to you and your family. We all try to give the citizens of Amador the best service available.

Tony Mathos is captain of the Jackson Fire Department and past president of American Legion Ambulance.