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This Week in EMS: A Recap for October 27- November 2, 2007
In a nationally reported tragedy this week seven college students were killed in a North Carolina beach house fire.
The fire broke out early Sunday morning after a fraternity and sorority gathering at the vacation house. The victims were from South Carolina schools; six attended the University of South Carolina (USC) and one was a Clemson University student.
The fatal fire appears to fit a national pattern; according to a study published by USA TODAY, off-campus parties have preceded many of the fires that have killed U.S. college students since 2000.
"This is the same scenario we are seeing time and again," says Ed Comeau, ex-chief fire investigator for the National Fire Protection Association and publisher of the online newsletter Campus Firewatch. "It drives home the importance of fire safety no matter where you are."
For more information visit the following articles:
- 7 Killed, 6 Injured in North Carolina Beach House Fire
- Students at N.C. Beach House Died of Smoke Inhalation, Carbon Monoxide
- N.C. Beach House Inferno Highlights Well-Known Risks
An unattended ambulance rolled down a hill and into the side of a Concord, New Hampshire home early Thursday morning.
Police reported that the Care Plus ambulance was visiting a nursing home to pick up a patient. When the driver went inside the building, the vehicle started rolling. It traveled across a lawn, down a hill, knocked down part of a wall and sent a tree into a car that was heading west on Pleasant Street.
No one was seriously injured in the crash, but police said if it had happened a half hour later, the area would have been packed with students on their way to high school and employees of a nearby hospital.
For the full article visit Ambulance Rolls into New Hampshire House.
According to a study released this week, the nation's public health system is not prepared to handle the mass casualties that could result from an act of terrorism.
PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute, a New York think tank that provides advice to doctors and hospitals, reports that funds are insufficient to develop an effective response to a disaster.
"We tend to think of such large-scale disasters as one-off events, yet a major disaster has occurred every week on average in the U.S. for the past 10 years," said Carter Pate, global and U.S. managing partner of health industries and government services at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
"The American public is relying on a fragmented medical system to miraculously mount a swift, well-orchestrated response. Until further planning takes place, we should not be surprised if the system fails next time."
Read more on this report at Health System Found Unready for Terror.
Another study in the news this week examines assumptions about disaster response using a computer simulation model of trauma system response to mass casualty incidents involving dozens or hundreds of injured victims.
The study finds that the best response depends more on the capability of regional hospitals to treat critically injured victims than on the ability to accurately identify those victims in the field.
"No triage system is 100-percent accurate, so the key issue to define from an outcomes perspective is, 'How good is good-enough?'" says lead researcher Dr. Nathaniel Hupert, assistant professor of public health and medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and assistant attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
"Our study suggests that pre-disaster planning can begin to address this question systematically, using modeling that takes into account local resources and response times, as well as specific types of mass casualty events."
For more information visit the full article, Triage Study Challenges Notions of Disaster Response.
EMSResponder.com Featured Column
By Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Evanson
U.S. Coast Guard, Fifth District Public Affairs
Critical Incident Stress Management is a well established practice in EMS, designed to help rescue personnel cope with exposure to death and injury. The above article discusses how C.I.S.M. principles are utilized by the U.S. Coast Guard, whose rescuers, including EMTs, experience many of the same issues in the field.
Industry News
Mid-Atlantic All Hazards Forum Marks Fourth Year
Organizers of the Mid-Atlantic All Hazards Forum are kicking off the fourth annual homeland security and emergency preparedness event to be held November 7 and 8, 2007 at the Baltimore Convention Center. This annual meeting of state and local officials is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for representatives from Mid-Atlantic states (New Jersey to North Carolina) and private industry to dialogue on critical security and response issues.
"We are building a national model here. There is no other region in the U.S. that is currently conducting this kind of inter-jurisdictional dialogue and cross border cooperation," said Michael Rosenberg, Vice President at E.J. Krause, the firm responsible for planning AHF.
Click on the full press release for additional information.
EMSResponder.com Featured Job
Executive Director, Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services
Oversee and provide operational/organizational leadership/support with direct responsibility for:
- certification/ recertification of first responders, EMT's and paramedic course coordinators statewide;
- licensure/re-licensure of KY Paramedics, ambulances, and over 250 ambulance services statewide;
- overall administrative oversight, reviews/approves final disciplinary actions (including quality complaints and ethics issues);
- chief planner/activation point for EMS activities;
- legislative lobbyist for KBEMS, oversees development/ implementation of policies, regulations and statutory changes relative to emergency management policies/regulations/statutory changes;
- overall fiscal activities of the board (including grant writing /disbursement of funds) and information technology (including database design/maintenance);
- providing expertise/comprehensive reports to the Board in matters of policy, regulation, statutory changes, and national best practices
Requirements include Bachelor's Degree and five (5) years of experience in public administration or in the administration of an emergency medical services program.
The screening process will begin November 5, 2007.
Download the online application and contact:
KCTCS Human Resources
Job No.9327
300 North Main Street
Versailles, KY
40383
859-256-3378
Fax: 859-256-3119
Visit www.EMSResponder.com/jobs and our linked partner sites for additional EMS and related job listings. Also, watch for our expanded employment center coming soon on EMSResponder.com.
To submit an EMS related job listing e-mail Heather.Caspi@cygnusb2b.com.
EMSResponder.com Hot Topics
Our EMS forum pages have been redesigned for your convenience. Check out the streamlined registration process, expanded discussion categories and improved appearance. Register for free at www.emsresponder.com/forums.
This week's hot topic:
A forum member writes, "... Does anyone have any idea what the current pass/fail ratio is for the new national registry computer based test? very curious what the national average is under the new testing system..."
Click to read the local input provided by other EMS personnel.
Find additional discussions or start your own in the EMS Responder.com Forums.
EMSResponder.com Poll
Did your EMS agency respond to any emergencies related to Halloween activities?
Visit the poll on the lower right side of EMSResponder.com to participate. For the results of previous polls visit www.EMSResponder.com/polls.
To submit a poll idea e-mail Heather.Caspi@cygnusb2b.com.
Other top headlines this week on EMSResponder.com:
- Truck Hits Texas Ambulance with Patient Inside
- Illinois Paramedics Pull Driver from Burning Car
- Pennsylvania EMT Resuscitates Cat After Blaze
- Pennsylvania EMT First to Brother's Fatal Crash
- Passenger Finds Inspiration Written on Ambulance Door
About Heather Caspi, EMSResponder.com Editor-in-Chief
Heather Caspi has been a public safety journalist since 2000, beginning as a reporter for sister site Firehouse.com. She later became the assistant news editor for Firehouse.com and Officer.com, and led the launch of EMSResponder.com in 2005. She graduated from the University of Maryland with degrees in Journalism and English Language and Literature, and earned her EMT-B at Merritt College in Oakland, California. She can be reached at Heather.Caspi@cygnusb2b.com.
