ADVERTISEMENT
This Week in EMS: A Recap for October 6-12 2007
EMS Expo 2007 opened this week in Orlando, Florida in conjunction with the NAEMT Annual Meeting and Firehouse Central. After two days of in-depth pre-conference workshops, the main EMS Expo conference and exhibit hall opened Thursday.
Feature presentations included the opening ceremony's keynote address and announcement of the winners of the annual EMT of the Year and Gold Service awards.
The keynote was provided by Loren Rourke, MD. She explained that her roots are in EMS and that the purpose of her talk, "Matt's Story," was to give EMS providers a glimpse of what results from their work.
"You bring these people to the hospital but nobody ever tells you how they did," she said. "Did they live, did they die, what happened to them?"
She provided this perspective by sharing the story of 19-year-old Matt Derrick of Knoxville, TN, who was involved in a major motor vehicle collision and a prolonged extrication, resulting in what were considered "unsurvivable" injuries.
She began by explaining his specific injuries and course of treatment. "For all intents and purposes Matt got crushed in this wreck," she said.
The award winners announced during the opening ceremony included Valerie DeFrance, EMT-P, for the Braun Industries/ZOLL Medical EMT/Paramedic of the Year Award. She was nominated five times, from her home in Hope, Alaska, to as far away as Texas and Washington, DC.
The winners of the Gold Service Award, which honors both a paid and a volunteer service, were Slaterville Volunteer Ambulance Inc., located in Slaterville Springs, NY, and Baxter Regional Medical Center Ambulance, located in north central Arkansas in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains.
To read more about Matt and about these exceptional EMS providers, visit the article EMS Expo 2007 Opens in Orlando.
Also this week, the new Executive Director of the National Association of EMTs was introduced at the NAEMT Annual Meeting, which is held in conjunction with EMS Expo.
"It's alphabet soup to me right now." That's how Pam Cohen, who is new to the industry, described her introduction to acronyms associated with EMS.
On her third day on the job, she promised the NAEMT Board of Governors that she learns quickly. "I've wrapped my arms around all those acronyms," she said.
Cohen, who holds a master's degree in strategic communications from Seton Hall, said it's been an exciting few days, and was warmly welcomed by the group.
To read more about Pam and this new development at NAEMT visit New NAEMT Executive Director Introduced at Annual Meeting/EMS Expo.
In the latest loss to the EMS community, a pilot, flight nurse and paramedic were killed late last week after their medical plane crashed in the rugged South San Juan Wilderness Area in southern Colorado.
The twin-engine Beechcraft King Air C90 was owned by Utah-based Eagle Air Medical Ambulance, and was headed to Alamosa, CO to pick up a patient for transport to Colorado Springs. Airport officials lost radio and radar contact with the plane at 11:22 p.m. Thursday. Investigators didn't know if the crew experienced problems prior to the crash.
The crew members were identified as pilot Ric Miller, flight paramedic Dana Dedman and flight nurse Ronnie Helton.
To read more visit the articles:
In a startling EMS incident this week, another school shooting took place in Cleveland, Ohio. A 14-year-old suspended student opened fire in his downtown high school Wednesday, wounding two teachers and two students before killing himself.
The student was suspended for fighting two days earlier and had made threats in front of students and teachers last week. He also had a history of mental health problems and threatened to commit suicide last year while in a mental health center, according to juvenile court records obtained by The Plain Dealer.
To view additional information and EMS photos from the scene, visit Gunman Injures 4, Kills Self in Ohio School Shooting.
In another major EMS headline this week, one person died and three hundred were treated, many for heat related ailments, during record breaking hot weather at last Sunday's Chicago Marathon.
It was initially unclear whether the heat contributed to the death of the one race participant. However, concerns about the number of heat-related injuries prompted race officials to close the course down early, to keep from overwhelming emergency medical personnel.
At least 49 people were taken to hospitals, while another 250 were treated onsite. Three people were in critical condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital late Sunday.
To read more about this event and link to an EMS Magazine feature article about marathon maladies, visit One Dead, 300 Sidelined at Chicago Marathon
EMSResponder.com Featured columns
New Hybrid Cars at the Detroit Car Show
Dave Long presents this information from the 2007 North American International Auto Show, because it remains an ongoing challenge for all EMS responders to remain educated about how to work safely around new vehicles. This column appears in conjunction with Dave's presentation at EMS Expo 2007, "New Car Anatomy from the 2007 Detroit Auto Show."
Click on the article to read Dave's observations, to download the automakers' official emergency response guides, and to view Dave's photo slideshow.
This article on multi-agency scenario-based training is provided by Pat Robinson, Ph.D., Training Contributor of partner website Officer.com. Pat suggests that law enforcement agencies conduct inter-agency training with EMS and other allied agencies in their service areas, and the perspectives offered here should be of use to the EMS community.
"Identify some common goals and figure out specific objectives for each agency. Then build a scenario around those goals and objectives," Pat writes. "Let's say you decide that the police need more work on rendering first aid to injured crime victims and that the EMS providers need work on how to treat patients without messing up crime scenes unnecessarily. Any number of scenarios could be built around those goals." Click on the headline to read Pat's full article.
EMSResponder.com Featured Job
The salary is listed at $31,631.00 - $47,449.00 annually and the position's closing date is October 20, 2007.
Click on the job title for requirements, benefits and application information.
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
A forum member writes, "This is probably more for volunteer EMTs, but comments from anyone is fine. I am interested in finding out how many volunteer EMTs use flashing red lights in their private vehicles responding to a call. And how people feel about using them."
Click on the discussion to read the full question and the responses from other members.
Find additional topics in the EMS Responder.com Forums.
EMSResponder.com Poll
Has your EMS agency prepared for the possibility of a school shooting?
Visit the poll on the lower right side of EMSResponder.com to participate. To see the results of previous polls visit www.EMSResponder.com/polls.
What questions do you have for your fellow EMS responders? To submit a poll idea e-mail Heather.Caspi@cygnusb2b.com.
Other top headlines this week on EMSResponder.com:
- California Man Dies After Scuffle with EMTs
- Illinois Teen Dies After Bike Hits Ambulance
- California Newborn Mistakenly Declared Dead
- West Virginia EMS Responder Faces DUI
- New California EMT Regulations Are Questioned
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.
