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EMS at the Hunt County Fair

June 15, 2007

 

 

At right, two youngsters try on bicycle helments at the Child Safety table of the Hunt Memorial Hospital District booth in the Hunt County Fair's Hall of Heroes.

 


 

Michael Sanchez, assistant Emergency Medical Service director at HMHD, checks out a film at the EMS booth at the 2007 Hunt County Fair. The EMS booth is located in the Hall of Heroes.


 


Hunt County’s response teams make a difference
By Susan Spoonemore
Development and Communications

February 21, 2007 - With about 10,000 emergency calls made each year, the Hunt Memorial Hospital District relies heavily on the First Response Teams that provide life-saving services to Hunt County residents.

Thirteen first responder teams throughout Hunt County (known to most in their communities as their fire departments) are standing ready 24 hours a day awaiting calls from those needing emergency care.

Most of the responders are volunteers. Cash, Caddo Mills, Celeste the Commerce Emergency Corps departments have rescue status. The Emergency Corps is classified as a volunteer Emergency Medical Service.

Other departments in the county include Wolfe City, Lone Oak, Merit, Commerce FD, Greenville, Quinlan, Tawakoni South, Union Valley and West Tawakoni

Patrick Schooler, director of Hunt County EMS, says all first responders undergo extensive training. “We provide Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and continuing education classes every quarter,” he said.

Most First Response teams have the ability to provide services that are critical in the first moments of a medical emergency, whether it’s a vehicle accident, injuries from violence, fire or water-related accident. The teams can provide Rapid Sequence Induction, which is the process of giving patients drugs to anesthetize them to insert a breathing tube. Also, the teams have transportable ventilators, called Critical Care Transfer Medics.

The process of an emergency rescue is fairly complicated. Once a call is made for help, it goes to a local 911 center, such as the Hunt County Sheriff’s office or the Greenville or Commerce Police Departments. That center will then transfer the emergency situation to American Medical Response in Dallas. Then, certified EMD dispatchers will contact the needed department by a generating specific tone. After the tone is received, the team will respond to the emergency. Paramedics then make the decision of whether to transport the patient to a Hunt County hospital or to a larger facility in Dallas.

Dr. Joe Bleier, the medical director for Presbyterian Hospital of Greenville’s Emergency Department, emphasizes that first responders of Hunt County provide a major service to the county. “Two treatment modalities are proven by researchers to save lives in hospital care: Defibrillation and early arrival. You cannot underestimate the value of our volunteer first responders delivering those therapies at a significant savings to the county taxpayers.”

The services of first responders have not gone unnoticed. In recent years, the Caddo Mills Volunteer Fire Department and the Commerce Emergency Corps have been named the First Responder of the Year by the Texas Department of State Health Services.

“The dedication of volunteers in the past has resulted in those awards, but lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina and other multi-causality incidents has given us a direction in which to grow,” said Bleier.

Despite their training and expertise, most of the team members are not paid for their services. The communities and rural areas in the county receive hospital funding to support the EMS and teams through purchase of equipment and facility use. The money comes from taxes collected by HMHD which is deliberately put back into the protection of the entire county.

Assistant EMS Coordinator Michael Sanchez, also a certified EMT, considers the teams valuable assets to the communities of Hunt County.

“Given that they volunteer their services and time, they save the county taxpayers millions of dollars,” he said.

The volunteer units don’t stop at just protecting the communities’ residents. Most of them also contribute to the quality of life by spearheading community events, celebrations, fund-raising efforts and charitable causes.

The training and education of the teams of Hunt County continues later this month when EMTs will attend a Continuing Education Conference, in which they will break up in teams and be assessed on their skills and knowledge of emergency medical care.

“Education and the acceptance of the responsibility of a First Responder is literally a matter of life and death,” says HMHD Chief Executive Officer Richard Carter. “We are extremely proud of the group of men and women who help the hospital district in serving the Hunt County area with their life-saving efforts.”

Child Passenger Safety Week closes with Car Seat Checkup Event

February 21, 2007 - Child Passenger Safety Week concluded Saturday, February 17 as representatives from Presbyterian Hospital of Greenville, Hunt County Emergency Medical Service, and the Greenville Police Department participated in a Child Restraint Checkup Event at the Crossroads Mall.

Volunteer help was provided by the Greenville Police Department Explorer Program and Paris Junior College nursing students.

The team had a great turnout as four certified techs checked 42 children and their child restraint system. Eight belt positioning booster seats were distributed and, 12 child restraint systems were replaced.

Only 28 percent of the Child restraint systems arrived and were installed completely correctly. “It is normal, unfortunately, for us to see at least one area of misuse during car seat checks,” said Bret Freeman, Trauma director at PHG. The whole purpose of the event is to identify misuse, educate the parents while encouraging their participation with the installation, and, of course, correcting the misuse, he said.

Educational material was distributed to the parents along with giveaways provided by Presbyterian Hospital of Greenville and the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council. The material reminded parents when their child should graduate to a different child restraint system, which direction they should face, and how long they need to be in booster seats.

“Parents do not realize that their child should remain in a belt positioning booster seat up until they are 4 foot 9 inches or 57 inches tall,” said Freeman. After children graduate from forward facing harness restraint systems they are not tall enough to sit directly in a vehicle seat with just a lap/shoulder belt. Belt Positioning Booster Seats allow the lap/shoulder belt to cross the child in the correct anatomical positions. Abdominal and neck injuries are common in Motor Vehicle Crashes in which children were not restrained appropriately in booster seats.

The Hunt County Coalition’s goal is to keep children safe in the county by educating the parents and encouraging their help during installation. Please take a few minutes to make sure your child is restrained appropriately in your vehicle.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact the Presbyterian Hospital of Greenville Trauma Department at 903-408-1412.

Continuing Education Program

Click here for the CE schedule. If you have any questions about CE, contact Patrick

Privacy Officer

HIPAA took effect on April 15, 2003. This legislation makes any entity that routinely obtains protected health information subject to the rules set forth by HIPAA.

One of the requirements of this law is that each entity have a privacy officer. The privacy officer is responsible for the way records are utilized and how the records are disclosed to outside and inside parties.

Please select a privacy officer for your organization as soon as possible. Leave the officer's name and a daytime phone number in my voice mail. A Privacy Officer's Meeting will take place sometime early in May.

Website and Email

In addition to the EMS website, we also have a listserve address at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/huntcoems.

The listserve is a centralized email address that receives email and broadcasts messages to everyone that signs up for the list. (A handy way to send a message to a lot of people at one time.)

The listserve will be used for meeting notices, clarifications, and any discussions you want to conduct.




Skill and Compassion
When You Need It Most


Hunt County Emergency Medical Service
P.O. Drawer 1059
Greenville, Texas 75403-1059
(903) 408-1428

info@hcems.org


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