Editor, Gazette-Journal:

First, we want to offer a heartfelt thank you to the citizens of Mathews County for outstanding support of Mathews Volunteer Rescue Squad’s recent fund drive. We sincerely appreciate the contributions that help us constantly update our capabilities.

Second, since Mathews citizens may have seen or heard a lot more helicopters in the past several months, your rescue squad wanted to make you aware of several changes in emergency medical procedures (protocols) that have caused this increase in medical fly-outs.

One major change is when a specific EKG reading shows a possible heart attack, it is now necessary to have a patient in a facility that has specialized cardiac capabilities within 90 minutes of the onset of the chest pain. The closest specialized facility to Mathews County is located in Newport News, so this is a significant challenge.

Another new protocol involves patients who experience the symptoms associated with a stroke. A patient with ...