News

This Week in EMS: A Recap for March 22 - 28, 2008

HEATHER CASPI, Editor

03/27/2008

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About 150 people were injured Tuesday when a runaway freight car struck a Boston commuter train during the evening rush hour.

There were about 300 commuters onboard the train out of Boston's South Station when it was struck at 5:20 p.m. Injuries were reportedly minor and included broken noses, twisted ankles, neck and back injuries and facial cuts, officials said.

According to Canton Fire Chief Tim Ronayne, more than 20 ambulances were called to the crash site, but many of the injured were transported to hospitals by bus.

Read the full article: Runaway Freight Car Slams Boston Commuter Train; 150 Injured.

The Kentucky EMS community mourned the line-of-duty death this week of Paramedic Brad Haugh, 54. He experienced chest pains Sunday after returning from an emergency call with Clinton-Hickman EMS and was taken to Three Rivers Hospital in Waverly, Tenn. where he died.

Haugh had a long history in the rescue services but only recently became certified as a paramedic. He worked full-time with Murray-Calloway County EMS and part-time at Clinton-Hickman.

Read the full article: Kentucky Paramedic Dies On Duty.

Two Chicago Fire Department paramedics were injured last Friday when a car plowed into the front of their ambulance on the Northwest Side.

The ambulance was on its way to a call at about 10:45 a.m. with its lights and sirens activated when the car broadsided the front driver's side of the ambulance at an intersection. After the initial collision, another vehicle crashed into the car.

The two paramedics and two people from the second car suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

For more details visit: Chicago Medics Hurt in Ambulance Crash.

The D.C. fire and EMS department has decided that it's time to do something about their frequent, non-emergency 911 callers.

The department began a program this week to make routine visits to assess the well-being of repeat 911 callers and to link them to appropriate services. The city's most frequent callers are currently responsible for an estimated 49,000 unnecessary calls each year.

"It's an idea that's gaining currency throughout the country," said City Administrator Dan Tangherlini, whose brother oversees a similar program in San Francisco. "The fact is [the program] saved the city several millions of dollars by [recognizing] people making these frequent calls were eating up these huge amounts of resources."

Read about the program at: D.C. Medics to Treat Overuse of 911.

New on EMSResponder.com:

We need your help: Take the 2008 EMSResponder.com Reader Survey

EMSResponder.com strives to protect and serve the EMS Community through real-time information. We are very interested in hearing what information we present -- from articles and forums to podcasts, Web casts and videos -- is most helpful and what you want to see more of as we move forward.

Your feedback is what determines the design of our online content and special features. We want to continue to bring you what you need. So in an ongoing effort to do just that, we are asking you to participate in the 2008 EMSResponder.com Readers Survey.

Please take a few minutes to tell us what you really think, and then we'll sit down over the next few months and put together an online plan that allows us to continue meeting your Internet needs.

Thank you again for your support and time. We truly value what you have to say.

EMS Magazine Online Exclusive:

Careers in EMS: What Could That Ladder Look Like?

"Most people who choose EMS love what they do and would love to have full careers in it. Yet they are painfully aware of several things," writes EMS Magazine contributor Skip Kirkwood.

In this online supplement to the March issue, Skip discusses the top barriers to careers in EMS: limited opportunities for advancement; personalities who are driven to seek variety in their work; a lack of financial security; and a lack of infrastructure to train EMS providers for career development. Visit Skip's article for a detailed look at each of these concerns.

Featured Column:

Gunslinger

"I was a gunslinger, oh yeah, ten feet tall and bullet proof. There was a new lawman in town and he was me. I was the Sheriff of Trauma Town, F-L-A. Nobody died on my watch. Nobody. Period. Cocky and arrogant were barely the words to describe the way I felt..."

Visit this compelling and entertaining debut article by new EMSResponder.com contributor Stephen Kavalin to hear his story of personal growth - from a tough, by-the-book paramedic to a caregiver guided in his actions by compassion and common sense.

Featured Job:

Paramedic -- Okaloosa County, FL

Okaloosa County in Florida is looking for a Paramedic to provide basic and advanced life support assistance on an emergency basis for the care and treatment of sick and injured person(s).

Click above for details and apply online at https://agency.governmentjobs.com/okaloosa/. Visit www.EMSResponder.com/jobs for additional listings.

Featured Forum Thread:

White Paper Revisited

EMS: Where were we in 1966, where are we now, and where should we be heading as a profession?

Representatives from a variety of EMS groups will be participating in a brainstorming event hosted by EMS Magazine this July to discuss a plan for progress. The group will review the influential 1966 white paper about the development of the U.S. EMS system, and will discuss ideas for future funding, recruitment and retention, industry career paths, and more.

For more information on these issues read the editorial "Let's Fix it Before it Breaks" on page 54 of your March issue. If you would like to submit points for discussion at the July meeting, which will take place as part of EMS at Firehouse Expo in Baltimore, MD, please add your comments here or email EMS Magazine editor Nancy Perry at nancy.perry@cygnusb2b.com.

Click above to read more. To browse the forums visit www.emsresponder.com/forums.

Poll Question:

While responding with lights and siren to a medical emergency, how fast does your state/jurisdiction allow you to drive?

Visit the poll on the lower right side of EMSResponder.com to participate. View previous polls at www.EMSResponder.com/polls, and e-mail poll ideas to Heather.Caspi@cygnusb2b.com.

Reminders:

The deadline is approaching for applications for the Fiscal Year 2008 Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) program. They are due April 4, 2008 at 5:00 p.m. EDT. The AFG will award approximately $500 million to fire departments and nonaffiliated EMS organizations.

Nominations are being accepted until May 31, 2008 for this year's Cherokee Inspired Comfort Awards. Random prize drawings will be held during March, April and May, and award winners will be announced in September.

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:

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.