Members of the Louisa County Ambulance are used to helping others in their community, but this week they were out to support one of their own. Public Relations Committee President Aimee Buol’s 4-year-old daughter, Cate, is battling Supraventricular Tachycardia (tech-eh-card-euh). She was born with the condition that makes her heart beat faster than normal due to abnormal electrical impulses. Cate was taken to the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital recently due to an episode of SVT that lasted three hours at her home, and almost two hours at the hospital. So, Buol’s sister, Louisa County Ambulance Volunteer Lizzy Duncan gathered her fellow ambulance volunteers to go to the hospital and hold up signs across the street from the hospital. Due to current COVID-19 restrictions, this idea was the one way they could show their support for Cate and Aimee while also practicing social distancing. Cate and Aimee could see them from the window.

Duncan tells KCII News how it felt to be supportive from so far away, “It was definitely an experience that I will never forget. I’m kind of glad that I had that experience. It kind of gives you another look at what other families kind of go through at the hospital that don’t have family close. They’re up there by themselves for a longer period of time. So, definitely it gave me another look at reality for some patients there.” Cate has been at the hospital since April 29th and was released from the hospital this week, just in time to celebrate her fourth birthday at home. Members of the ambulance and fire department went the extra mile and surprised Cate at home with a driveby birthday parade.