The EMS Handoff Podcast: The Role of EMS Data and COVID-19 with Dr. Remle Crowe
Get every episode by subscribing to The EMS Handoff using Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. On this week’s Episode of the EMS Handoff, hosts David Blevins, Eric McCullough and Bradley Dean are joined by Dr. Remle Crowe, a research scientist with ESO. Dr. Crowe discusses the significance of data and how EMS data is being used to help support the understanding of COVID-19 in the country.  Dr. Crowe is an expert in EMS research and quality improvement. From truck clutches to clinical care, she has shown how research and improvement science work to solve problems across fields. Prior to earning a PhD in ep...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - January 6, 2021 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: Podcasts Coronavirus Source Type: news

If I ’ve Already Had the Coronavirus, Can I Get It Again?
If I’ve already had the coronavirus, can I get it again? It’s possible, but such cases seem to be rare. It’s not unusual to develop some immunity to a virus after an infection, since our bodies are generally better at recognizing and fighting off bugs they’ve encountered before. And that seems to be the case with the coronavirus as well, though scientists are still trying to figure out how long any protection might last. Related: Studies Find Having COVID-19 May Protect Against Reinfection Some reinfections have been confirmed, but two new studies suggest that’s very unusual. In one, only two out o...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - January 6, 2021 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: AP News Coronavirus Source Type: news

Marion County (WV) Rescue Squad Honored for Heart Patient Transport Times
Eddie Trizzino Times West Virginian, Fairmont (MCT) When an individual is having a heart attack, every second matters in getting them treated to ensure they will not only survive, but maintain a healthy heart after their trauma. For a few months this past summer, the Marion County Rescue Squad could not transfer patients to an emergency department within Marion County, after Fairmont Regional Medical Center closed in May. Michael Angelucci, administrator of the Marion County Rescue Squad, in some cases, this added up to 30 minutes to a patient’s transport to a hospital. ...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - January 6, 2021 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: Cardiac & Resuscitation News News Feed Patient Care Cardiac Arrest West Virginia Source Type: news

First Responders in MA Will Get Coronavirus Vaccines Next Week
Erin Tiernan Boston Herald (MCT) Police, firefighters and emergency medical responders can begin getting coronavirus vaccines Jan. 11, Gov. Charlie Baker announced, something union leaders say “can’t come soon enough.” “With respect to first responders, obviously I think we all would agree that vaccine distribution can’t happen fast enough,” Baker said on Monday during his regular coronavirus briefing at the State House. “But the process also needs to be thoughtful and thorough.” Vaccinations for the state’s roughly 45,000 first responders will become ...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - January 5, 2021 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: Coronavirus Industry News Massachusetts Medicine Source Type: news

Stronger Together: Two NJ EMS Squads Merge
Two long-running NJ EMS organizations merged on January 1, 2021, to create a stronger operation to serve their communities, it was announced today by the leadership of Shark River Hills First Aid Squad, Inc. and Hamilton First Aid & Rescue Squad. To start 2021, Hamilton First Aid & Rescue Squad officially became part of the Shark River Hills First Aid Squad, creating a more sustainable entity to provide volunteer emergency medical services within Neptune Township, NJ, a community of more than 27,000 people overall. “The community will benefit from the strengthening of the volunteer EMS program,” says Mich...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - January 5, 2021 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: Administration and Leadership Operations Product Videos EMS EMT New Jersey Source Type: news

American Emergency Vehicles ® Introduces Firstar™ to Its Lineup
American Emergency Vehicles (AEV®), part of the REV Group® (NYSE: REVG) and manufacturer of Type I, II, III and Medium-Duty ambulances, expands its extensive portfolio of vehicles to include the Firstar Modular 146” model, which is available on Type I and Type III chassis platforms. The Firstar concept model debuted in 2019 at the American Ambulance Association Annual Conference & Trade Show (AAA), which was then refined based on customer feedback. “AEV is excited to bring the Firstar Modular 146” to market as a complement to our comprehensive lineup of emergency vehicles,” said Randy Hanson, Presiden...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - January 5, 2021 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: Ambulances & Vehicle Ops Operations EMS Source Type: news

Just One Percent Immunized Amid Slow Vaccine Rollout in CA
By KATHLEEN RONAYNE Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Distribution hiccups and logistical challenges have slowed the initial coronavirus vaccine rollout in California, setting a pace that’s “not good enough,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said. The state is trying to execute the massive immunization campaign “with a sense of urgency that is required of this moment and the urgency that people demand,” but so far only about 1% of California’s 40 million residents have been vaccinated, the Democratic governor said. Related L.A. County EMS Told to Conserve OxygenPatient Care Falters as COVID-19 Devastate...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - January 5, 2021 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: AP News Coronavirus California Medicine Source Type: news

COVID-19 Outbreak Infects 44, Kills One at San Jose (CA) Medical Center
According to a report from KTVU, Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center revealed that an emergency department employee died of COVID-19 complications, while 44 other emergency department staff also tested positive for COVID-19 during the past week. On Saturday, the hospital confirmed 43 positive COVID-19 cases among employees in the emergency department; on Sunday, they added another case. In addition, the hospital says an air-powered holiday-spirited costume worn by a staff member who was briefly in the emergency department on Christmas day may have played contributed to the 44 infections. Kaiser Permanente is no...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - January 5, 2021 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: Coronavirus News Source Type: news

Urban Aeronautics Announces First Pre-Orders of EMS CityHawk VTOL
Urban Aeronautics Ltd. announced Tuesday it has signed a deal with Hatzolah Air for four EMS CityHawk vertical take-off and landing aircraft (VTOL). The company said the EMS CityHawk is a lightweight twin-engine VTOL with “a uniquely compact footprint that can be optimized for urban transportation or emergency response.” Related Company Hopes to Develop Flying Ambulance in Next Five YearsNew Partnership in Drone Delivery System for Human Organs The craft will use jet propulsion and have cabins that are 20 to 30 percent larger and quieter than comparable helicopters. The aircraft is planned to complete it...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - January 5, 2021 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: International News Operations EMS Source Type: news

FL Flight Nurse Dies after Contracting COVID-19
Peter Yankowski Connecticut Post, Bridgeport (MCT) A nurse who previously served on a helicopter emergency medical services team in Connecticut has died after contracting COVID-19. Steven Neher, a flight nurse and nurse practitioner, died last Tuesday in Florida after contracting the disease, according to a Facebook post from LIFE STAR, a helicopter EMS service in Connecticut. Neher was working as a nurse practitioner at a jail for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office, the outlet reported, and also worked as a flight nurse and registered nurse at Tampa Genera...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - January 5, 2021 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: News News Feed Coronavirus Flight Medic Florida Source Type: news

Approaches in Prehospital Sepsis Screening
Discussion In the United States, sepsis is one of the leading causes of death, which requires timely identification and proper treatment (CDC, 2019; Guerra et al., 2020; Polito et al., 2015). Based upon a review of literature conducted from 2014 to 2018, the primary investigators could locate five prehospital EMS screening tools to assist EMS providers in identifying at-risk sepsis patients. The researchers explored how the modified SIRS and qSOFA scoring systems were used in hospital settings in addition to these five prehospital EMS screening tools. The Bas 90-30-90, Guerra, PRESEP, PRESS, and Robson tools have ove...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - January 5, 2021 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: Exclusives Patient Care EMS EMT Paramedic Prehospital Sepsis Source Type: news

L.A. County EMS Told to Conserve Oxygen, Don ’t Transport Patients with Little Chance of Survival
New efforts to increase capacity and triage care to focus on the sickest patients Alex Wigglesworth, Rong-Gong Lin II, Soumya Karlamangla and Luke Money Los Angeles Times (MCT) LOS ANGELES — The situation in Los Angeles County hospitals is so critical that ambulance crews have been advised to try to cut back on their use of oxygen and not to bring to hospitals patients who have virtually no chance of survival. Officials now say they need to focus on patients with a greater chance of surviving. The measures were taken as circumstances were expected to become even worse in coming weeks, when patients sickene...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - January 5, 2021 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: Administration and Leadership News News Feed Operations Patient Care Source Type: news

Adenosine is a Treatment, Not a Diagnostic
Identify the ECG rhythm before you use adenosine, not the other way around. Why? Check out the dangers of this practice in this week’s video! Previous: A review discussing post-intubation management of sedation and pain control to improve patient outcomes. Read the original JEMS manuscript here! The post Adenosine is a Treatment, Not a Diagnostic appeared first on JEMS. (Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership)
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - January 4, 2021 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: Patient Care Patient Care Videos Training Videos Master Your Medics Source Type: news

New St. Louis (MO) Program to Divert Mental Health Calls Away from 911
Robert Patrick St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MCT) ST. LOUIS — If all goes according to plan, thousands of 911 calls beginning this month will not reach St. Louis police or fire personnel. Calls involving people with mental health issues, or in a mental crisis, may instead be diverted to specially trained behavioral health professionals. Tiffany Lacy Clark, COO of the contractor involved in the program, Behavioral Health Response, said the broader goals of the program are to relieve police and EMS workers from responding to many mental health crises, to prevent people undergoing a crisis from going to jail or th...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - January 4, 2021 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: Communications & Dispatch News News Feed 911 Mental Health Missouri Source Type: news

Head-On Crash Kills Seven Kids, Two Adults in Central CA
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Investigators are asking for the public’s help to determine what led up to a head-on crash that killed seven children and two adults in central California on New Year’s Day. The California Highway Patrol says everyone who reported Friday’s fiery crash on rural State Route 33 came upon the scene after the collision. The CHP hopes to talk to witnesses who saw what happened in the seconds before the SUV and the truck collided between Avenal and Coalinga. The children, who were between 6 and 15 years old, were members of two related families traveling in a Ford F-150 truck that w...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - January 4, 2021 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: AP News Rescue & Vehicle Extrication California Crash Source Type: news