N E W S	EMS DISPATCH
LETTER
Vol. VIII No. 1 Spring 2001	Southern Tier Regional EMS Council

Table of Contents	THIS IS WHY YOU DO WHAT YOU DO
Accident  Page 2 QIPP Awards  Page 3 Quiz Page  4 Lifestyles  Page 4 Policies  Page 5 Council News  Page 6	Check inside to read the details on this amazing story. Do you know of someone who has done some amazing things that are consider just routine? Would they qualify for EMS Council Award? Look in the last issue for information on these awards.
Send us news of your agency: information about what you are doing, or about people - someone who should be recognized for exceptional service or caring, someone who deserves a pat on the back. Send it to EMS Dispatch at STREMS.
EMS DISPATCH Published quarterly by STREMS, Inc. 315 West Water Street, Elmira, NY 14901 Robert W. Nowlan, President; Maryann Sweely, Vice President; James J. Cummings, Treasurer; Ronald H. Kintz, Secretary; Robert C. Rajsky, Council Chairperson; Bernadette Josbeno-Oakes, Council Vice-Chairperson
Sponsors: Chemung County, Schuyler County, Steuben County, Arnot Ogden Medical Center, Corning Hospital, Ira Davenport Memorial Hospital, Schuyler Hospital, St. James Mercy Hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital.
INSTRUCTIONAL AIDS The STREMS office has all kinds of teaching tools to be loaned out to EMS personnel. Check out our web site www.strems.org or call us at 732-2354.

Contact us STREMS, Inc. 315 West Water Street Elmira NY 14901 (607) 732-2354 In New York State only: 1-800-343-1311

E-mail us: STREMS@stny.rr.com

Page 2 Accident: Crash Rescue Page 3 Awards: QIPP and EMS Page 4 Lifestyles and Quiz Page 5 NYS DOH Policies Page 6 Council News Previous Articles Back to homepage

Crash Rescue -by Vanessa Jewett

These photos are of a vehicle that has not been touched by any mechanical tool. We were traveling down Ridge Road, just outside of Odessa, we were returning from AED Training Sessions at ValoisLogan-Hector and Mecklenburg. We were discussing how clear this night was compared to how foggy it was the night before. We just rounded a curve when we noticed the car in front of us swerve to miss this vehicle that was in the middle of the road with a tree on top of it.

I grabbed the cell phone and dialed 911, I told the EMD dispatcher (Tommy) that I wasn't sure where on Ridge Road we were at but, that the gas well was just around the next bend. I yelled to Bill to talk to the dispatcher and tossed him the phone. I then headed to the vehicle.

When I walked up to the truck there was nothing that indicated that there could be anyone alive. All the light source that we had was a 5" mag light and a snake light. The man from the vehicle in front of us said that there was someone in the driver's seat. By this time Bill had turned our truck around to prevent us from getting struck by another car passing through the area.

When I looked in the front seat, the windshield was missing and the passenger side of the vehicle was also gone; it was real easy to reach in and find his right forearm. The first thing I noticed was that he had a laceration to his right hand and that it was not bleeding. I felt for a radial pulse and could not find one, and from the limited light I also saw that he was not breathing. I reached into the vehicle and found a carotid pulse; it was 60 and weak.

I yelled to Bill to get the Ambu bag from the manikin case that we had in our truck. The man in the vehicle in front of us told me not to move him that he was in the military and knows not to move a patient. I told him I was a nurse and a paramedic and knew what I was doing. By this time, Bill had gotten the Ambu bag (the Ambu bag that we have been using for training for t. least the past year) and my bunker coat. I put on my coat and climbed behind the drivers seat. I brought his head back into the neutral position and he still did not take a breath. I held the blob in place and Bill bagged him by standing outside the truck.

It seemed like an eternity, but Cindy Manwaring from Millport FD was the first one on the scene. Cindy told me later that she thought we were the ones involved in the accident, she could not figure out what we were doing in the middle of this mess. We continued to bag the person that I figured could only be 17 or 18 years old.

We heard the sirens off in the distance. The NY State Trooper arrived and started traffic control, and by this time our patient was starting to breathe on his own and he was trying to talk. We asked if he was alone and he said yes. That was a real relief because anyone else with him would have been dead. The State Trooper, Cindy and Bill moved the tree off the top of the truck and I held Kyle in place. By this time he had told me what his name was and he was trying to talk. He said that he did not hurt any place and I noticed that by this time his hand had started bleeding.

The Millport FD arrived on scene and Erway Ambulance arrived next. When they got ready to extricate Kyle, all that was needed to be done was to open the driver's door after the tree was removed, and he was slid to the backboard without difficulty. He was transported to the local trauma center, Arnot Ogden Medical Center, was admitted and released the next day. When all was said and done we happened to be at the right place at the right time and we had the knowledge and the skills to help someone and we were not afraid to get involved. I truly believe that a couple more minutes with Kyle unconscious and not breathing, his carotid pulse already at 60 and weak, he did not have long before he would have been a trauma arrest. And to believe he was released the next day.

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Page 3 Awards: QIPP and EMS
Page 4 Lifestyles and Quiz
Page 5 NYS DOH Policies
Page 6 Council News
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Do You Know What This Is?

This is the QIPP Award. That is the STREMS Regional Quality Improvement Program Participation Award. It was awarded to any Agency that participated in at least 75 % of the regional Quality Improvement programs and meetings, and submitting at least three quarterly reports for their agency for the year of 2000. These awards were presented at the March 8th Council meeting held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Big Flats. For each year that an agency meets the qualifications another year will be added to the plaque.

The STREMS Regional Quality Improvement Program was begun in 1994, when the Department of Health added Section 3006 to Article 30, requiring all ambulance services to participate in a QI program. According to Article 30, the QI program could be conducted independently or in conjunction with other services, the regional council, or with an EMS program agency. The QI committee has to have at least five members; one has to be a physician and three of them can not be EMS providers for your agency. It was the feeling of the STREMS Council members that such a program would be difficult for volunteer ambulances to do on their own, so they developed the regional program to make it as easy as possible for the Region's volunteer agencies.

And the Recipients were: Addison Ambulance Bath Ambulance Cameron Ambulance Cohocton Ambulance Erway Ambulance Fremont Ambulance Hammondsport Ambulance Hornell Ambulance Jasper Ambulance
Pulteney Ambulance Rural/Metro Corning Ambulance Schuyler Ambulance Troupsburg Ambulance Tyrone Ambulance Valois-Logan-Hector Ambulance Wayland Ambulance Wayne Ambulance Arnot Ogden Medical Center Corning Hospital
Ira Davenport Hospital St. James Hospital St. Joseph's Hospital Schuyler Hospital Chemung County 911

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Page 2 Accident: Crash Rescue
Page 4 Lifestyles and Quiz
Page 5 NYS DOH Policies
Page 6 Council News
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YOUR LIFESTYLE MAY BE KILLING YOU!!

Oh Sure. You hear it all the time. Eat right and live healthy. Save your heart. Likely the doc has handed you brochure after brochure on lowering your cholesterol, proper nutrition, etc., etc. But, maybe you've never really thought about that advice. What if you don't change your lifestyle? What if you keep eating the wrong foods, sitting in a vegetative coma in front of the TV or drinking that one extra beer? Even if a heart attack doesn't end your life, it could end your career, a career you've dedicated that life to.

Let's face it: being a firefighter or in the emergency medical services isn't necessarily about the money to you. It's about the brotherhood, the sense of noble cause. It's a part of who you are. One heart attack, and all that camaraderie and purpose can disappear. And if you don't get the message the first time, that one painful episode can turn into two or three before your lifestyle finally takes you out of the game for good. If you die unexpectedly of a heart attack, who else loses? What about your spouse? Your Children? Your Parents? Your Grandchildren? And if you survive, forget about the career and retirement you've planned. Do you really want to be stuck on desk duty for the rest of your life? Didn't think so.

More firefighters and EMTs die of heart attacks than of injuries suffered in the line of duty. In fact, heart disease is the #1 killer in the United States. You're working on becoming part of those statistics every time you eat one more slice of pizza, drink one more beer, smoke one more cigarette or say to yourself one more time, "I'll start exercising tomorrow."

And you are not exempt if you are a woman. The common myth that women just don't have heart attacks couldn't be more wrong. Women are just as likely to have and/or die from a heart attack as men. For a woman to think otherwise is like putting a bullet in her own chest. The good news is that you do not have to die of heart disease or live the rest of your life as an invalid. You can take preventive steps. Exercise and healthy diet go a long way toward preventing heart disease, or at least toward keeping it from getting worse. Sure, it can be a pain in the backside to do all this healthy stuff. But, it sure beats a pain in your chest.

Murphy's Law:
If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the first one to go wrong.

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Page 2 Accident: Crash Rescue
Page 3 Awards: QIPP and EMS
Page 5 NYS DOH Policies
Page 6 Council News
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The questions for the quiz were taken from two new policies released by the Department of Health in 2000: No.00-08 "Use of Bicycles as EASVs" and 00-13 "The Operation of Emergency Medical Services Vehicles."

The New York State Department of Health issued 15 new policies in 2000; the list is below. If you do not have these, you may download them from the DOH website, http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/ems/publaw.htm, or call the DOH and request them. They are also available at the STREMS office.

Policies:
00-01  Use of Epinephrine Auto Injectors by EMS Agencies
00-02  Use of Epinephrine Auto Injectors by Childrens Camps
00-03  Transition of Care
00-04  Instructor Course Program Coordinator
00-05  Course Reimbursement
00-06  Security of Drug Boxes
00-07  No Smoking
00-08  Use of Bicycles as EASVs
00-09  Functional Position Description Certified First Responder
00-10  Functional Position Description EMT/AEMT
00-11  Sexual Harassment
00-12  Certification for Individuals with Criminal Convictions
00-13  The Operation of Emergency Medical Services Vehicles
00-04  Storage and Integrity of Prehospital Medications and Intravenous Fluids
00-15  Storage and Integrity of Prehospital Medications used by EMT-Bs

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Page 2 Accident: Crash Rescue
Page 3 Awards: QIPP and EMS
Page 4 Lifestyles and Quiz
Page 6 Council News
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Following is a brief summary of the actions taken at the March 8, 2001 meeting of the Southern Tier Regional EMS Council. Full text of council minutes are available on the Council page.

A policy that will allow the administration of nebulized albuterol by basic EMTs has been approved by the STREMAC Committee and by STREMS Council. This will be a voluntary policy; if an agency feels they have a need for it, they can apply for it. It is not a mandatory policy.

New EMD protocol cards have arrived and a special appointed task force are reviewing them. STREMAC is also working on a draft policy for the credentialing on-line medical control physicians in this region.

AED permits have been approved for Golden Glow Fire Department, Thurston Fire Department, Pulteney Volunteer Ambulance and Addison Volunteer Fire Department Ambulance.

Two new Council members have been approved: Ms. Debbie Kline who is replacing Mr. William Randolph from Schuyler County and Mr. Charles Keener Cortright who is filling an empty chair from Steuben County.

Eight new CLIs have been approved by the Council and their paperwork has been shipped to the State. They are Brian Brantner, Jill Drake, Mike MacCoy, Becky Franklin, Laureen Sassaman, Debbie Zimmer, Glenn Vogel and Joseph McUmber.

Quiz answers: If you answered "true" to all of the questions, give yourself a gold star!

Back to Page 1
Page 2 Accident: Crash Rescue
Page 3 Awards: QIPP and EMS
Page 4 Lifestyles and Quiz
Page 5 NYS DOH Policies
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