Life Support

andrear@herald-mail.com Jane Plummer's world crumbled when her 32-year-old daughter, Joanna Plummer, was murdered Nov. 24, 2002. A bereavement support group at Rest Haven Cemetery in Hagerstown is helping her put the pieces of her life back together. Jane Plummer, of Hagerstown, said she found solace and support from her family and friends following her daughter's death. She reached out for counseling to help her cope with the ensuing judicial process. But there came a time, about five months after losing Joanna, that Plummer needed the support of other grieving parents.

Hope E. Goins, the 3-year-old girl injured in a Wednesday afternoon apartment fire in Hagerstown, was ruled brain-dead on Friday, but was being kept on life support at R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, Hagerstown spokeswoman Erin Wolfe said Saturday. “They're going to make her an organ donor,” Wolfe said. Hope's mother, Patricia M. Goins, 43, died in the fire at 334 Summit Ave. Two other family members also were injured - Patricia Goins' husband, Kenneth W. Goins Jr., 50, and father, Quintin H. Coldsmith, 64. Coldsmith remained in critical condition Saturday night at R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, according to a spokeswoman there.

A Hagerstown woman who was critically injured earlier this month in a hit-and-run accident involving a tractor-trailer died Wednesday at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va., after being taken off life support. Kimberly Yumlu, 45, was being kept alive by a ventilator early Wednesday morning so surgeons could harvest her organs later that day, her son-in-law, A.J. Roberts said. “It's going to be something that's on our mind every year on Thanksgiving,” Roberts said.

A Clear Spring woman is on life support at Meritus Medical Center  after she apparently attempted to hang herself Wednesday morning at the Washington County Detention Center, according to county  Sheriff Douglas Mullendore. Kristy Dawn Jenkins, 25, of 11815 St. Paul Road, was found by deputies at about 6:30 a.m. hanging from a sheet on a partition in a bathroom at the jail, a Washington County Sheriff's Office news release said. She was revived by cardiopulmonary resuscitation and taken to Meritus Medical Center east of Hagerstown.

Grief counselors have been made available to help Boonsboro High School students cope with the serious injury suffered by a 16-year-old classmate during a head-on vehicle collision Tuesday morning. High School Principal Peggy Pugh said school officials told the staff on Tuesday that sophomore Alexis Jarman suffered critical injuries in the accident in Boonsboro. She said the students were informed Wednesday morning. “We sent out information that each teacher read to his or her homeroom,” Pugh said.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The Chambersburg Borough Council president said Tuesday there is no reason that a borough that operates its own utilities can't also manage its own advanced life support ambulance service. "If we can build and operate an ambulance service of the quality of our utilities, we will truly be the envy of every community in Pennsylvania," Bill McLaughlin said. As the end of the borough's contract with West Shore ALS approaches, the council has more frequently discussed the possibility of establishing its own ALS service that would provide critical patient care.

HAGERSTOWN -- A committee of the Washington County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association is asking the Washington County Commissioners to hold off for 45 days before acting on a proposal to hire advanced life support technicians to support the county's volunteer rescue companies. The request was debated Thursday night during a meeting between the commissioners and ambulance providers at Hagerstown Community College's Kepler Theater. Jon Snyder, chairman of the rescue association's emergency medical services committee, said the committee voted in favor of a 45-day delay Nov. 2 after the commissioners deadlocked on the plan to hire the advanced life support technicians.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The Chambersburg Borough Council Monday night voted 6-4 to end further discussion on starting its own advanced life support ambulance service after discussing a study that pegged the cost at more than $600,000. The borough and Greene, Guilford, Hamilton and Letterkenny townships, along with Franklin County, have a contract with West Shore Emergency Medical Services of Camp Hill, Pa., to provide advanced life support (ALS) ambulance service for those municipalities and county facilities.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- A long-delayed plan to hire advanced life support technicians to support Washington County's volunteer rescue companies hit another setback Tuesday when the Washington County Commissioners could not agree to give final approval for the new hires. Two of the five commissioners voted in favor of the new staff Tuesday; two voted against the motion, citing concerns that ambulance companies had withdrawn their support; and Commissioners President John F. Barr, who could have broken the tie, abstained, saying he saw both sides.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- The mother of a West Virginia man who overdosed on heroin in August said the court order she thought would give doctors more time to screen her son for signs of life is actually preventing them from performing key tests. Angela Lanciano Moreno of Gerrardstown, W.Va., was awarded a temporary restraining order Monday by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gina M. Groh that prohibits WVU Hospitals-East from removing her 22-year-old son, Christian Lanciano, from life support, according to court records.

Hope E. Goins, the 3-year-old girl injured in a Wednesday afternoon apartment fire in Hagerstown, was ruled brain-dead on Friday, but was being kept on life support at R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, Hagerstown spokeswoman Erin Wolfe said Saturday. “They're going to make her an organ donor,” Wolfe said. Hope's mother, Patricia M. Goins, 43, died in the fire at 334 Summit Ave. Two other family members also were injured - Patricia Goins' husband, Kenneth W. Goins Jr., 50, and father, Quintin H. Coldsmith, 64. Coldsmith remained in critical condition Saturday night at R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, according to a spokeswoman there.

Editor's note: This story was corrected at 11:45 p.m. on Friday to change erroneous information provided about the condition of Hope Goins, a 3-year-old girl injured in a fire in Hagerstown Wednesday. Two of three people who were injured earlier this week in an apartment fire that claimed the life of a Hagerstown woman remained hospitalized Friday in Baltimore. Hope E. Goins, 3, and Quintin H. Coldsmith, 64, were listed in critical condition at R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Medical Center in Baltimore, a hospital spokeswoman said.

My son has cadaver valves. Not like a collection of them in an egg carton or in his dresser drawer. He has them in his heart. Those, along with some bovine or "cow" tissues, and a synthetic conduit. Tyler's got it all going on. A man of many tissues, I call him. He was born with a condition called transposition of the great vessels, as well as some other significant cardiac anomalies. He's had major reconstructive surgery and a number of procedures and he is a strong, fit 18-year-old guy. He is a certified lifeguard and can swing an ax to chop wood, kayak choppy waters and carry a heavy load 'til the cows come home (pardon the bovine reference)

A Clear Spring woman is on life support at Meritus Medical Center  after she apparently attempted to hang herself Wednesday morning at the Washington County Detention Center, according to county  Sheriff Douglas Mullendore. Kristy Dawn Jenkins, 25, of 11815 St. Paul Road, was found by deputies at about 6:30 a.m. hanging from a sheet on a partition in a bathroom at the jail, a Washington County Sheriff's Office news release said. She was revived by cardiopulmonary resuscitation and taken to Meritus Medical Center east of Hagerstown.

Grief counselors have been made available to help Boonsboro High School students cope with the serious injury suffered by a 16-year-old classmate during a head-on vehicle collision Tuesday morning. High School Principal Peggy Pugh said school officials told the staff on Tuesday that sophomore Alexis Jarman suffered critical injuries in the accident in Boonsboro. She said the students were informed Wednesday morning. “We sent out information that each teacher read to his or her homeroom,” Pugh said.

A Hagerstown woman who was critically injured earlier this month in a hit-and-run accident involving a tractor-trailer died Wednesday at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va., after being taken off life support. Kimberly Yumlu, 45, was being kept alive by a ventilator early Wednesday morning so surgeons could harvest her organs later that day, her son-in-law, A.J. Roberts said. “It's going to be something that's on our mind every year on Thanksgiving,” Roberts said.

A 48-year-old Hagerstown man  critically injured in a fight Tuesday night in Rocky Glen mobile-home community near Spring Mills has died, the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office said Friday. Keith Douglas, whom the sheriff's office had said was declared brain dead after the fight, died late Thursday evening, Berkeley County Sheriff's Deputy Lt. Gary Harmison said. Douglas was being kept alive with life-support equipment at Winchester (Va.) Medical Center, where he was taken after an alleged altercation with Troy Michael Butts of Appomattox Drive in Rocky Glen, according to police and court documents.

A 48-year-old Hagerstown man was in critical condition at Winchester (Va.) Medical Center on Wednesday after a fight Tuesday night in Rocky Glen mobile home community near Spring Mills, W.Va., the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office said. Keith Douglas was being kept alive with life-support equipment at the hospital, where he has been declared brain dead, according to Berkeley County Sheriff's Deputy Lt. Gary Harmison and the criminal complaint he filed. Troy Michael Butts, 30, of Appomattox Drive in Rocky Glen, was arraigned Wednesday morning on two felony counts of malicious wounding, according to court records.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- The Washington County Commissioners on Tuesday approved a revamped plan for addressing emergency medical services staffing shortages that involves spending as much as $1.7 million a year on staffing subsidies to EMS companies. The plan also involves making EMS salaries more competitive, instituting annual audit reviews and other accountability measures, and establishing a second advanced life support (ALS) chase car that would supplement ambulance responses in the South County area.

HAGERSTOWN -- A committee of the Washington County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association is asking the Washington County Commissioners to hold off for 45 days before acting on a proposal to hire advanced life support technicians to support the county's volunteer rescue companies. The request was debated Thursday night during a meeting between the commissioners and ambulance providers at Hagerstown Community College's Kepler Theater. Jon Snyder, chairman of the rescue association's emergency medical services committee, said the committee voted in favor of a 45-day delay Nov. 2 after the commissioners deadlocked on the plan to hire the advanced life support technicians.