Several communities in Marion County are receiving an upgrade in the response for their medical needs. North Arkansas Regional Medical Center – Emergency Medical Services in conjunction with the Flippin Fire Department and the Marion County Fire Chiefs’ Association are sponsoring an Emergency Medical Technician course for 20 students from across Marion County. These students are all members of local fire departments and have been providing life saving measures prior to the arrival of an ambulance for several years as first responders. These students are undergoing 160+ hours of training to ensure that their neighbors receive the best care available prior to transport by an ambulance to the hospital of their choice.

The EMT course is being instructed by Brian Coffman, Paramedic/Supervisor with NARMC EMS, Brian Unruh, Paramedic/EMS Director with NARMC EMS and Telicia Wade-Perry, Paramedic with Flippin Fire Department. These instructors have many years of classroom training and have an almost perfect pass ratio of the students they have trained over the past years.

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Shift Captain Rob Douthit shows Madison County EMS’ two new notebook computers.

A recent grant has given Madison County EMS an opportunity to upgrade its technology. The service recently received a regional trauma grant from the Arkansas Department of Health. Part of the grant money was used to purchase two refurbished Panasonic Toughbook notebook computers. The notebooks are used in the field to gather patient information and to create patient reports for the hospitals and for the state. The Toughbooks also have a unique feature which allows signatures to be written on the screen and captured in memory for reports.

In addition to reports, Madison County EMS plans to use the notebooks as a reference library. Programs for emergency procedures, medication information, medical protocols, and hazardous materials will soon be added.

The same grant is also benefiting Madion County’s EMS responders. Emergency Medical Responders, or EMRs for short, respond to emergencies in their community and provide basic emergency medical care until the ambulance arrives. Through the grant MCEMS has purchased immobilization equipment for use by the responders. The equipment is used by the EMRs to treat car wreck patients and trauma victims. The used equipment is swapped for a new set by the responding ambulance. MCEMS is hosting a training class on the new immobilization equipment in February.

The Arkansas EMS Foundation and the family and friends of Air Evac 22 crew member Gayla Gregory have established a scholarship fund in her memory.

Click here for more information about the Gayla Gregory EMS Memorial Scholarship.

The risk of occupational death is two-and-a-half fold higher for EMS workers, while EMS response is also statistically more dangerous than police or fire

By Jamie Thompson
EMS1 Senior Editor

BALTIMORE — Transport is the most dangerous thing EMS providers do — but the full extent of the hazards involved have always been tough to prove.

The risk of occupational death is two-and-a-half fold higher for EMS workers, while EMS response is also statistically more dangerous than police or fire.

A session at EMS Today in Baltimore was told how a recent study on the forces that are applied to EMS providers during transport not only highlights the risks to responders but to patients as well.

Continue reading at ems1.com

An attorney gave advice to a session at EMS Today in Baltimore regarding the growing issue of responders posting media online

By Jamie Thompson
EMS1 senior editor

BALTIMORE — A department’s firing of a firefighter-medic over a video he posted on Facebook was extreme but likely legally safe, a session at EMS Today was told on Friday.

Jason Brown created the three-minute clip — featuring a responder and a doctor — on an animation program before posting it on the social networking Web site.

Continue reading at ems1.com

JONESBORO, AR (KAIT-TV) – The Medic One ambulance team in Pocahontas received some special visitors this morning.

The Jonesboro Air Evac Life Team landed at Medic One to recognize them for their excellence in emergency medical services.

Read the rest and watch the video at http://www.kait8.com/global/story.asp?s=12014409