Date: Fri 24-Sep-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

Crouch-exchange-program

Full Text:

Local Dispatcher To Participate In China Exchange

(with photo)

BY KAAREN VALENTA

As an E-911 dispatcher, an emergency medical technician, and a missionary,

James E. Crouch has devoted his life to helping others. Next month this call

will take him to the People's Republic of China for an exchange of information

about the technology used in providing life-saving emergency services.

Mr Crouch, chief dispatcher for the town's 911 emergency center, has been

invited by the People to People Ambassador Program to visit China as part of

an international delegation of emergency service providers. People to People

International was founded more than 40 years ago by former President Dwight D.

Eisenhower as a private-citizen effort to promote international understanding

and cooperation.

"I have a wonderful opportunity to represent my country and community in a

unique way," Mr Crouch said. "The primary objective of our delegation is to

share in the exchange of knowledge and experience related to voice and data

communications, and operational management, used in providing emergency

services."

Mr Crouch will be traveling with 14 other people from the Association of

Public Safety Communications Officers (APCO) International from October 29 to

November 9. He will going as a private citizen, not as a town employee, and

must pay the cost of the trip, approximately $4,497, himself or through

donations made in his name to the People to People program.

The delegation will be led by Capt Joseph L. Hanna, president-elect of APCO

International. Others participating include several E-911 coordinators from

the United States, England, Canada and Australia, consultants, and

representatives of technology companies.

"This venture will provide delegation members with a rare opportunity to share

experiences and knowledge in an environment significantly different than that

experienced in our daily routines," Mr Hanna said.

Mr Crouch said he is particularly interested in the visit the delegation will

make to Hong Kong on November 7 and 8.

"Hong Kong has a state-of-the art system," he explained. "I hope to learn a

great deal that I can use as we continue to develop our 911 system in

Newtown."

Hong Kong Telecom utilizes a wide range of voice and data telecommunications

services backed by a fully digital fiber-optic network. Mr Crouch said that

discussions with wireless technology specialists will center on areas for

future cooperation in the development and expansion of wireless communication

technology and services.

"My particular area of interest is with emergency medical dispatch, centering

on pre-arrival instructions," Jim Crouch said. "Newtown is on the brink of

implementing a pre-arrival system that will enable dispatchers to provide

potentially life-saving instructions before the ambulance arrives."

Mr Crouch said Hong Kong has a radio trunking system, mobile data

communications, and computer-aided dispatch, all of which Newtown is

investigating to add to upgrade its emergency services system.

Before visiting Hong Kong, the delegation will travel to Beijing and Shanghai

to meet with local officials and representatives of the police, fire and

ambulance dispatch units.

Far East Saga

When Mr Crouch left Newtown High School in the 1970s to join the Army during

the Vietnam War, he did not foresee that his future would bring him to the Far

East many times. Soon after arriving at his first posting in Hawaii, he met

several other servicemen who were witnessing for Christ. "My first impression

was that if they were real Christians, they should leave the rest of us

alone," Mr Crouch recalled. "But I soon gained a personal relationship with

Jesus Christ. I realized that God was alive and real -- he reached down and

saved me. I asked him to use me in this [military] campaign. The very next day

my master sergeant turned to me and said `Crouch, you are going to be involved

in this campaign.' And from that day forward I've always been involved with

Indo-Chinese people."

Mr Crouch was assigned to serve as a communications sergeant at refugee camps

in the Far East including "Tent City" on Guam, where 110,000 Vietnamese

refugees were housed. He used his free time to try to reunite families

separated by the war. After his military service ended, he attended the Emmaus

Bible College in Oak Park, Ill., and returned to work as a missionary in the

Cambodian refugee camps in Thailand. He developed a slide presentation and

took it to nearly every state in the United States to encourage churches to

sponsor refugees, and wrote an article that was published by the international

church magazine, In Trust.

After serving as a resettlement officer in California, Jim Crouch returned to

the Bible college to continue his education. He also began working part-time

in the three-man emergency dispatch center in Oak Park, became an auxiliary

policeman, and was certified as a medical response technician (MRT) to serve

as a first responder. Then he returned to Thailand.

"I spent five years in Thailand as a commended missionary with the Chistian

Missions in Many Lands," Mr Crouch said. "While I was there I used my MRT

training because there were no emergency services available. I'm now trying to

get a used ambulance donated to ship there. An ambulance that would cost

$100,000 new here is $200,000 in Thailand."

Mr Crouch met his wife, Preewphan, in Thailand. They married in 1988 and have

two children, Jeremy, 8, and Pallma, 5.

"We moved back to Newtown after we were married," Mr Crouch said. "My parents

weren't well and we were able to help care for them until their deaths."

Jim got a job as a dispatcher in Newtown and became certified as an emergency

medical technician (EMT-IV). He became chief dispatcher, responsible for

supervising the center's day-to-day operations and making recommendations for

upgrading its computer and telecommunications equipment and software as new

technology is developed.

While in China, he plans to give a presentation about pre-arrival instruction

systems.

"I'm very excited," he said. "I do have to raise a considerable amount of

money to finance my trip, but I didn't make it public earlier because I first

went to the town's Board of Ethics to make sure that it would not be a

problem. I have an opinion from the board that it is okay because I am going

as a private citizen, not as a town employee."

The board said to prevent a potential violation of the Code of Ethnics, there

should be no solicitation of town employees, all donations should be made to a

third party on Mr Crouch's behalf, and the names of the donors should be

confidential. Mr Crouch said donations would be collected by the People to

People program, and locally by Chris Crandall, who is an elder in the

Community Presbyterian Church of Newtown.

Donations in the form of checks or money orders should be made payable to the

People to People program with a memo that it is for James Crouch. These should

be sent either to Chris Crandall, 105 South Main Street, Newtown 06470, or to

Marcia Hillestad, People to People Ambassador Programs, Dwight D. Eisenhower

Bldg, 110 S. Ferrall Street, Spokane, WA 99202-4800. Donations also may be

made by credit card by indicating Master Card, Visa, Discover or American

Express, the card number, expiration date and a signature. This may be mailed

or faxed to 509/534-0403.