Thousand Islands Rescue
TIERS Coverage Area
The area is known as the Thousand Islands region, which provides a strong identity in our name, and for the namesake bridge (right), from the U.S. mainland to Wellesley Island which carries almost 6,000 cars and trucks each day to and from the border crossing with Canada. The T.I. Bridge also provides the pattern for our TIERS logo.
There are several other smaller islands in our coverage area, which presents unique challenges in case of medical or fire emergencies. There are two fire boats in our area which can shuttle TIERS crews to and from an island call, depending on weather conditions.
Clayton Fire Department's fireboat "Last Chance" (left), is our main fireboat partner. TIERS has a complement of emergency medical equipment on board, and responding Paramedics take ALS/BLS bags with them. The Fishers Landing Fire Department also has a fireboat.
In addition to residents on islands and pleasure boats, the busy St. Lawrence Seaway also carries massive ocean-going freighter ships. Working with the United States Coast Guard, TIERS must always be ready for the possibility of an emergency medical call on a ship, and for a possible HAZMAT incident in case of a chemical- or petroleum-carrying ship accident. Any contact with international vessels and crews may also mean some involvement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Coast Guard, Customs or Border Patrol officials. There is also a chance of a mass casualty incident on the water involving one of several large tour boats that operate on the river. TIERS and the Clayton Fire Department hosted a training session on board a large transport vessel that focused on ship construction, confined-space rescue and extrication from maritime vessels; click here for complete information.
Once the river starts to
freeze, quick island access is by snowmobile, ATV or airboat
only. Our coverage area suffers
from severe winter weather conditions on land,
too, which pose their own EMS challenges. TIERS has an ATV/Rescue
Trailer combination, donated by
The Rivergate
Wheelers ATV Club of
Clayton. Our Rescue Trailer carries EMS and extrication equipment for rescues in
remote, difficult terrain, and can provide emergency patient transportation in
severe weather or across river ice.
We also use our and ATV/
Rescue Trailer and the
TIERS EMS Bike Team to provide coverage in crowded public events in River
communities. While the actual population of our coverage
area
is just over 7,000, the number of people along the
shore swells considerably during the summer tourism
season. Heat and humidity
added to boating, water and land sports, heavy road traffic and alcohol
consumption bumps up TIERS' number of calls in the summer months.
Clayton
is the most cosmopolitan of the villages in our townships: traditional, charming and quiet
--a great place for families and anything to do with summer and the
water. Recent years have seen the arrival of military families
from
the U.S. Army's Fort Drum--as
has every area is Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence and Oswego counties--as
the Fort has grown with the arrival of new missions and thousands of new sol
diers
and their dependents.
TIERS also safeguards the students of the Thousand Islands Central School District's Guardino Elementary, secondary and high schools, and the LaFargeville Central School campus.
LaFargeville
is more of a "farm" town, with a large farm supply business. Its nearby access
to Interstate 81 also makes it a business center with a large trucking company,
an LP gas company, the Crowley Foods plant, and
the busy Can-Am Speedway. These also bring special considerations for TIERS and for fire services with large tanks of flammables and
toxic
chemicals fairly close to each other, and the need for training in
industrial and confined- space rescue, plus updates in HAZMAT.
TIERS crews provide
weekly stand-by services at the speedway throughout the 
racing season: for
go-karts on Friday nights and full size stock car races on Saturday nights.
The hamlets of DePauville and Fishers Landing are both small, rural communities--one on the river and one inland--with dedicated and active volunteer fire departments, the latter with a fireboat.
Farms account for a large portion of our coverage area, so TIERS hosts rescuers from all over the area for the Farm Medic seminar, dealing specifically with special farm considerations--machinery and farm equipment entrapments, chemicals and fertilizers used, silo rescue and other specific topics. We also rely on our Rescue Trailer for use in remote areas of farmland and thick woods.
A new--and surprising--addition to our area is the arrival of several Old Amish families who have relocated to the area from Ohio and Pennsylvania, drawn by high-quality farmland at low purchase prices. While they typically have little to do with outsiders, we do have an occasional need to serve their emergency medical needs. Click here to find out much more about their history and unique lifestyle .
