I think that this is interestingly written and an interesting comparison between your own experiences in Singapore and the Naluwan grandma. What do you think can be applied to your final piece of work from this fieldnote? Do you think that your experiences in Singapore has shaped you to think differently and feel differently from an Amis person living in Naluwan?
1. Long-term threats, legacy of mining
- Unstable old salt mines below Stassfurt that have to be monitored and water flows have to be management to prevent ground movement
- so far, more than 800 buildings, including an 500-year old church had to be demolished. Currently, ground movement is under control
- 27 waste heaps and contaminted sites within the city that contain many very hazadous chemical compunds. They were never properly cleaned up
2. Long-term threats, ongoing causes
- by-products of salt mining and refining are collected in large landfills that leak salt into sorrounding areas. There are no plans how these landfills can be remediated, they have to be mananged indenfinitely
- soil erosion of arable land around the city by high intensity farming of crops for livestock production and bioenergy
- toxic waste produced by waste incarceration plant is pumped into former salt mining caves where it solidifies and becomes impossible to recover
3. Short term threats
- explosion in bionenergy plant in 2020
- leakage of ammonia at public street in 2014
- pollution of river bode with ammonia and chloride by CHIECH Soda, massive fish kills every summer
- air pollution, cause unknown, probably mostly by metalworks industry
Staßfurt is a small city in the East German Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt with about 24 thousand inhabitants. Like many cities and villages in the area, it faces huge demographic problems: The population is shrinking rapidly, consists mostly of older people, unemployment is high, percentage of highly educated people is low. The city has a long history of salt mining that goes back to the 13th century. Many inhabitants proudly refer to Staßfurt as the "Cradle of potash-mining" ("Wiege des Kalibergbaus"). Unfilled salt mining shafts that were flooded by groundwater had to be abandoned and started to cave in. Over 800 buildings in the city center had to be demolished because of instabilities, among them a 500-year old church. Nevertheless, salt mining and a metallic industry that developed alongside it is still the largest economic sector in Staßfurt. The city is still permeated by an old mining culture that becomes visible in traditional festivals, clubs (Bergmannsverein e.V. Staßfurt) and the playing of traditional miner's song on offical occasions (Steigerlied).
This organization seeks to provide emergency medical services to community members of Bed-Stuy, an area seeing disproportionate levels of physical violence and trauma. Before BSVAC the average ambulatory response time to the city was approximately 30 minutes, gravely eating into the "Golden hour" trauma patients are allowed. In light of this, two EMS workers chose to start a volunteer EMS agency to provide emergency care to the city, expose community members to careers in EMS, and teach BLS skills to residents.
The founding members were Bed-Stuy residents Captain James "Rocky" Robinson and Specialist Joe Perez. Since then, membership has extended to other EMS personnel, the majority of whom are also Bed-Stuy residents. This is also the first multi-cultural ambulatory agency and seeks to provide meaningful careers to Bed-Stuy residents
The agency itself is an illustration of emergency response; before BSVAC ambulance response time averaged around thirty minutes-- a far cry from the standard eight minutes aimed for by ambulatory agencies around the Capital region. The original goal of BSVAC was to cut down these times, thereby increasing patient outcomes and creating a sense of safety in a community rippling with gang and drug violence. In addition to this initial goal, BSVAC also reaches out to the surrounding community, teaching CPR, first-aid, and BLS to Bed-Stuy residents. This aids in emergency response, as CPR and first-aid measures can be delivered quickly to a patient even before the ambulance arrives.
The organization of the group came from within the areas riddled with violence. As their commander is quoted in an article about the 27th anniversary, "People in the 'hood' had no chance. We had to wait for someone who did not look like us to come and save our lives." Commander Robinson is credited with starting the organization in an attempt to decrease wait times for emergency services in Bed-Stuy. Additionally, he and other ambulatory members regularly run EMT courses, aimed at pulling youth away from drug and gang related activities, providing them with an education and a future career. The agency, in many ways, has helped save multiple community members from a short and terrible life marked by violence.
As I mentioned in earlier answers, at the peak of the crack-cocaine epidemic, BSVAC was founded (1988). It took outside EMS agencies an average of 30 minutes to reach patients with Bed-Stuy, a time that is far too costly for major trauma patients. This causes the current Commander (formerly referred to as Captain) "Rocky" Robinson to begin a volunteer EMS agency within the city itself. Placing the agency in the city decreased response time significantly, with BSVAC now averaging a response time of less than 4 minutes.
Currently, BSVAC survives on state and community funding. However, as recently as 2014 the agency was being funded by the Commander's pension and funds from re-mortgaging his home. At present time, BSVAC has also received a check from Councilman Cornegy for their timely, professional response to violent crimes involving police officers and for general service to the community. As it stands, BSVAC runs on a budget of approximately 250,000 per year, mostly through donations and legislative grants.
This group has yet to produce a published report; however, they openly provide data about their response time-- which averages less than 4 minutes. This is a significant decrease from outside ambulatory agencies. Additionally, state statistics can be extrapolated to the group, such as noting that the vast majority of homicides still occur with Bed-Stuy, leading to their approximately 100 calls per month.