ADVERTISEMENT
This Week in EMS: A Recap for April 26 - May 2, 2008
Sign up here to receive the EMS Weekly Recap in your e-mail.
As rescuers surveyed the damage from a series of tornados this week in Virginia, they were amazed that no one was killed. Among the 200 people who were injured most suffered only cuts and scrapes, but at least a dozen were hospitalized, including six in critical condition.
Local officials said it was lucky the tornadoes occurred during the day when people were awake and were warned. Those in the storms' path were able to take shelter as the tornados swiped central and southeast Virginia.
Read more: Rescuers Amazed that 6 Twisters Caused No Deaths in Virginia.
The newly created National EMS Advisory Council hit the ground running at their inaugural meeting in D.C. late last week. The 26-member panel -- appointed by the Secretary of Transportation -- will be advising NHTSA's Office of EMS.
During a brainstorming session, the group came up with a number of strategies that need to be addressed. "We've developed quite a comprehensive list of issues and considerations faced by EMS throughout the country," said Dia Gainor, chairperson.
Read more about the new council in the EMSResponder.com exclusive, National EMS Advisory Council Holds Inaugural Meeting in D.C..
Industry News:
EMS Week 2008: Your Life is Our Mission
Is your agency ready for EMS Week 2008 this May 18-24? This year the focus is on fun, says the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). They provide a full planning kit online with tips and materials for reaching out to seniors and kids, incorporating an EMS Mascot, making fun EMS recipes, and more.
Click above for EMS Week ideas, and if your agency has plans, share them with ACEP and the EMS community. E-mail your plans, along with any related website links, press releases, photos, contact information, etc. to Heather Caspi at EMSResponder.com, and to Lauren Simon for ACEP.
New on EMSResponder.com:
Your Agency Could Be the Winner of the 2008 EMS Magazine Gold Service Award!
Win a cash prize and a trip to EMS EXPO 2008!
It is so easy to nominate your agency for the EMS Magazine Gold Service Award. Just tell us, in 500 words or less, why your service deserves to win the Gold Service Award.
The Gold Service Award honors both a paid and a volunteer service each year for dedication, teamwork and commitment to EMS. Achievement areas include innovations in prehospital care or EMS training, system upgrades, public education projects, and more.
Click above for details and to fill out the online nomination form. Nominations must be received by August 1, 2008.
We are interested in your views on patient handovers. If you'd had experiences (good or bad) worth sharing, please answer a few brief questions. Your responses will help us determine areas for future coverage. Results will appear in a forthcoming issue of EMS Magazine. For a literature review on patient handovers see the May issue, page 28.
Featured Column:
Columnist Steve Kavalin looks back on a call at which there was no rescuing to be done; the patient had just crashed an ultralight plane and was dead on arrival. However, the pilot's distraught, pregnant widow was on scene asking to see the body.
Rather than return to service, Steve's crew stayed to facilitate a viewing of the remains.
"We were out of service for over an hour," he writes. "By doing the right thing how many rules did we break in that hour? Probably more than I would ever know..." But, "We took care of the most important person there, the survivor, our real patient."
Featured Job:
Instructor of Emergency Medical Services -- Macomb Community College, Clinton Twp., MI
Required application materials must be received by May 8, 2008
Visit www.EMSResponder.com/jobs for additional listings including:
- Paramedics -- Johnson County, KS
- Chief of EMS -- 45th Parallel EMS, Northern NH and VT
- Paramedic Specialist Program Instructor - Mercy Medical Center, Des Moines, IA
- Paramedic - Okaloosa County, FL
- Paramedic - VCU Health Systems, VA
Featured Forum Thread:
A visitor to the ALS Treatment and Protocols Board asks, "Does anyone still pace bradycardic PEA? Can anyone point me to research showing outcomes either way?"
Click above to jump in to this discussion, or browse the forums at www.emsresponder.com/forums.
Poll Question:
Have you answered the current poll on EMS Intelligence Sensors? We're extending the run on this poll and will print the results in the June issue of EMS Magazine. The topic is discussed in the April article "EMS Intelligence Sensors," now available online.
Should EMS responders be trained to report possible signs of terrorism?
Visit the poll on the EMSResponder.com homepage to participate, and view previous polls at www.EMSResponder.com/polls.
Reminder:
Nominations are being accepted for EMS Magazine's 23rd Annual Braun Industries/Monster Medic EMT/Paramedic of the Year Award. Nominations must be received by July 7, 2008.
Other top headlines this week on EMSResponder.com:
- Redundant Response Under Fire in Florida
- Patient Attacks Tennessee Paramedic in Ambulance
- One Killed in Kentucky School Bus Crash
- Wyoming EMS Students Save Patient
- EMS Reviewed After Massachusetts Cheerleader Death
- Florida Firefighter Fakes Paramedic Certification
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.
