Swine Flu

The new strain of flu has been a part of our news over the past few days. We are meeting with our area health depart staff to monitor any activity form this strain in Arkansas. Let me remind you that we treat this threat like we would any other air or droplet borne exposure.

The following is an excerpt from a Health Department release from Dallas County today:


1. Any providers approaching an individual who appears sick with a fever AND who has a cough OR difficulty breathing should first place a mask on themselves,including eye protection, and should wear gloves. The mask should preferably be one that offers protection at an N95 mask level or higher.

2. After protecting themselves with the mask, eye protection, and gloves, providers should place a similar mask on the patient, if it can be tolerated. It is understandable that patients with shortness of breath may not tolerate such a mask, especially if oxygen is being administered or possibly CPAP.

Nebulize through the Boussignac CPA

Yes you can………

Nebulize through the Boussignac CPAP System

Congratulations Carla!

Carla Kelley was honored on April 11th, 2009, as the Faulkner County Veterans of Foreign Wars Paramedic of the Year. Carla was honored for her dedication to EMS, much of it in Faulkner County, her strong skills, and her compassion for her patients. She was a unanimous choice by the Foxtrots.

North Pulaski

I don't know what those crews are up to in North Pulaski, but here is a note and few pics from them.....

Of all the things that are on the blog, the goat did not make it? Not sure how I should take that. He could be one of our most famous future employees William "Billy" A. Goat.

Gratitude from a PT's family

Wife of a patient express her sincere gratitude to Medics Terra McDougald and Adam Weiser. PT's wife said that the CPAP is a wonderful device that helped her husband so much. Got his Pulse Ox saturation from the low 80’s to the high 90’s by the time he got to the hospital. He did not have to be intubated, but is still in ICU Dx with CHF.


She said “I will stand on the curb and clap for MEMS whenever they go by our home!”



Great Job Terra and Adam.

325 (soon to be 425) update

By the way 228 is now at Excellance, we are still working on the cause of the fire.

Tech tips from the shop

We already know that in our profession basic skill save lives, the same rule applies to our units.

I have been meeting with the shop, they have put together a few tips on starting, plugging in the unit etc... They are all basic skills, however we have had some problems with the mastering of these basic skills.

Did you know that not waiting on the glow plugs to heat up before starting the unit can cause damage to the glow plugs as well as the unit? The result is poor or no starting, or poor performance when it does start, not to mention the damage to parts that must be replaced.

Did you know that putting gas in a diesel engine cost an average of $500.00 to fix, assuming you don't ruin the engine?

Employees, please log on to the medic access part of the MEMS web site to view the video.

http://medic.metroems.org

Update on 325

A few pictures on the status of 325 (soon to be 425)

Latisha Johnson

Our own Latisha was honored as one of Arkansas’ Stars of life recently. This is an honor given out by the Arkansas Ambulance Association. She spent the day at the State Capitol interacting with Legislators, and touring the Capitol as well as participating in a luncheon in the Stars honor. Latisha, we are very proud of you !

Cot Inspections

We are in the process of bringing in all the cots in the fleet. We are doing a decontamination as well as inspection/repair as well as replacing any worn cot straps. I am reminding everyone that the chest straps are a requirement on our cots and should be used to restrain your patients.

We are also placing a “Mega Mover” on all cots. Its functions like a draw sheet on steroids. It can hold up to 1500 pounds. It is stored at the foot of the cot under the mattress. We have now placed it on the check off and major sheets.

Auto Vents in

We have received the shipment of the Autovent 3000. This means that all transport vents will be the same. All Paramedics should have received an in service in the last mandatory classes that were held. This is almost exactly like the Autovent that we have had for the last several years. If you need any additional in-service, please see your Supervisor.

A while back we adopted the phonetic alphabet to describe the different positions in the company. Mike=Major, Charlie= Captain, Hotel=Hazmat etc…

I think sometimes the new folks (and some of the old) are having a little trouble getting the concept ;-)

228 catches fire

Not a site you see everyday for sure. The crew of 228 (a newer unit) had just picked up a non-critical PT and were in route to the ER, when they lost power and started seeing smoke. The crew pulled over, evacuated the PT to a safe area. One crewmember went back with a fire extinguisher and was able to get to some of the flame, however the fire appeared to be in the wall of the unit, so he was unable to get to the true source of the fire.
I don’t feel the unit will be a total loss, but it does have heavy wire and smoke damage. We can replace metal, but not people. I am very grateful to the crew for their quick thinking and actions

A little trivia for ya....

This is Hunter Gray. He "invented" the stick man and the way we stripe out trucks. He also designed our first MEMS Alert campaign .

History of the Star of Life

Did you know??



The blue Star of Life was designed by Leo R. Schwartz, Chief of the EMS Branch, NHTSA. It was officially registered February 1, 1977. Just as pharmacists have the mortar and pestle and doctors have the caduceus, EMTs have a symbol. Each of the bars or six “points” of the blue “Star of Life” represents the six-system function of the EMS: detection, reporting, response, on scene care, care in transit, and transfer to definitive care. The staff on the star represents Medicine and Healing.

Slain EMS worker remembered

The EMT volunteer murdered Friday night in Cape Vincent had a promising career in emergency medical work cut short.

Mark B. Davis, 25, was killed by a gunshot from a high powered rifle while responding to a call late Friday evening.

Mr. Davis was involved in multiple emergency agencies, was enrolled in a paramedic program at JCC and worked full time at Watertown's Guilfoyle Ambulance, says the county's Fire and Emergency Services Director Glenn Morrison.

"He had an amazing passion for it," Morrison said.

Davis joined the Cape Vincent Fire Department in late 2006. He was both a volunteer and paid driver for Thousand Islands Rescue. "This was all he knew at this point," Morrison said. "He gave the ultimate sacrifice."

He said Davis' death is being treated as a "line of duty death," meaning funeral and survivor benefits being made available to Davis' family. It also means a formal honor guard funeral, to be held in Cape Vincent.

The designation of a "line of duty death" requires extensive paperwork which has already begun, Morrison said.

Davis moved to Cape Vincent about 2004 from Florida.

He is survived by his mother, a brother, a sister and other relatives.

murder of an EMS volunteer

Cape Vincent man is being held without bail after being arraigned for the
alleged murder of an EMS volunteer who was responding to his residence.

Christopher G. Burke, 25, was arraigned in Cape Vincent Court on 2nd degree
murder and weapons charges late Saturday morning.

State Police investigators say Burke shot and killed Cape Vincent EMS
volunteer Mark Davis at his 114 South Esseltyne residence late Friday
evening.

Davis and other EMS personnel had been summoned to Burke's residence by a
911 call, authorities say. Police would not reveal the nature of the medical
emergency.

While the EMS workers were tending to Burke, he became agitated, went into
another room and retrieved a high powered rifle. While talking to the EMS
workers, Burke had indicated he had weapons in the home, police said.

"And they heard the action of a weapon being activated. At that point the
EMTs attempted to retreat from the residence," said State Police BCI captain
Mark Lincoln.

As the EMTs retreated, Burke allegedly fired two rounds, one of them hitting
Davis and killing him.

Burke then ran from the home and was tackled and held down by another EMT.
Clayton Police officer Robin Pearce took him into custody with help from
Alexandria Bay Police officer Jerry Delosh.

EMTs at the scene attempted life-saving efforts on Davis and continued
during the ambulance transport to Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown,
where he was pronounced dead.

Capt. Lincoln declined to say whether drugs or alcohol may have been a
factor in the fatal incident.

25th Anniversary patch

In Celebration of MEMS 25th Anniversary, we have authorized the wearing of the MEMS 25th Anniversary patch. You are authorized to have this patch on your polo’s, or flying cross shirts in place of our regular patch for 2009.

Since this is an optional patch, and not required so a word of caution, this is only for 2009 so only order what you think you will wear for 09, 2010 we will move back to our traditional patch.

Stations being re-keyed

It’s time to re-key all of the MEMS sub-stations.

We started this week and hope to be concluded by the end of the January.

Now, some things you NEED TO KNOW.

The new keys are going to be color coded: Pink and Blue

Pink station keys will be on each MEMS unit key ring. (The color will insure that they stay on the key ring.)

Blue station keys can be issued to an employee who wants one. Note: employees or their family members ARE NOT authorized to duplicate or have a station key unless it has been issued by MEMS.

MEMS Policy on station keys is: You can be issued a station master key only. You CAN NOT take it upon yourself to have a station master key made. If you have MEMS station key made without MEMS authorization, you will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination. (ouch!!) In other words, don’t duplicate key…… J

You can see Louis or one of the supervisors in Conway to have a station key issued. There is a $50.00 fee/fine for the key, if it is lost and/or not returned. If your issued a key, you assume all responsibility until it is returned. If the key breaks or doesn’t work properly, just bring it in and we’ll swap it w/o worries……..

UAMS is MOVING!

The entire hospital will begin moving all patients, equipment and supplies on Saturday, January 17, 2009.

Beginning Sunday, January 18, 2009 at 0800 the old ER will be closed and the new ER will be accepting patients. The new ER entrance is located off of Shuffield Dr. across from LRVA ER. Follow signs for ambulance parking and entrance.

The new Helipad, located on top of new hospital, will be completely operational beginning Sunday, January 18, 2009 at 0800.