Paramedic, EMT Caught in St. Louis Shootout
Screen shot of KMOV report ST. LOUIS – A paramedic and an EMT were caught in the crossfire of two people firing gunshots at each other, according to reports. KMOV-TV reports it happened around 7:45 p.m. as the EMS crew was treating a patient in an unrelated case. At least 30 shots were fired, but none of the bullets hit anyone or the ambulance. Both the paramedic and the EMT were forced to dive for cover inside the rig. "When you hear gunfire outside of a medic unit or even outside your vehicle and you're trapped, what you're thinking is okay is a bullet gonna pierce the medic unit? That's what they were concerned a...
Source: JEMS Operations - September 3, 2019 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: News Ambulances & Vehicle Ops Operations Source Type: news

Coordinating a Ground-Air Intercept: Lessons Learned
This article discusses the steps in creating a ground-air EMS intercept standard operating procedure (SOP). The importance of simultaneously including all response agencies in developing the SOP is highlighted. Lessons learned in resolving SOP development, including misperceptions about when to dispatch air support, identifying landing zones, and the preference for direct ground-air EMS communication rather than using dispatch services are discussed. The article also forecasts how technology advances could further improve the ground-air intercept efficiency. Coordinating a Ground-Air Intercept Communication: Lessons Learne...
Source: JEMS Operations - September 3, 2019 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Training Exclusive Articles Operations Source Type: news

Eating Habits of EMS Workers to be Studied
Photo courtesy National Highway Traffic Safety Administration A new study at the University of Buffalo will look into the eating habits of EMS workers.   As former emergency medical services (EMS) workers, Dave Hostler and Brian Clemency know how challenging it can be to maintain a healthy lifestyle while working long shifts at odd hours. That’s why the UB researchers proposed a study aimed at understanding the nutrition practices of EMS workers. Their proposal was one of three selected for $5,000 in pilot funding by the National Association of EMS Physicians and the Emergency Medicine Foundation, two national ...
Source: JEMS Operations - August 29, 2019 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Operations News Source Type: news

Jury Convicts Ex-Ambulance Treasurer of Theft, Insurance Fraud
Police Photos Ruth "Roxy" Rookstool, left, and Brian Eckert   A Bucks County, Pennsylvania jury has found a former Morrisville Ambulance Squad treasurer and operations supervisor guilty of stealing more than $100,000 from the squad and conspiring to commit insurance fraud. Ruth "Roxy" Rookstool, 59, of Morrisville, left a courtroom in handcuffs Tuesday in the custody of the Bucks County Sheriff’s Office after, in light of the guilty verdict on felony and misdemeanor counts, President Judge Wallace H. Bateman increased the woman’s bail to $100,000. Rookstool and ex-squad chief Brian Ecker...
Source: JEMS Operations - August 28, 2019 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: News Operations Source Type: news

Two Children Killed, 10 People Hurt in Dayton Crash
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Police in Dayton, Ohio say a suspect in a stabbing stole a police SUV and crashed it into a van carrying children, killing two of them. In all, 10 people, including the suspect, were sent to hospitals. WHIO-TV reports that Lt. Col. Eric Henderson says the suspect fled when officers responded Monday evening to a report of a stabbing on Xenia Avenue. He says the suspect abandoned that vehicle, fled on foot and at some point stole a Riverside police SUV. Henderson says police then got a call about a crash near the Dayton Metro Library, where officers arrested the suspect. The SUV had crashed into at leas...
Source: JEMS Operations - August 27, 2019 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: News Mass Casualty Incidents AP News Tag Operations Source Type: news

Why Red Wyoming Seeks The Regulatory Approach To Air Ambulance Costs
Photo National Highway Traffic Safety Administration   Wyoming, the reddest of Republican states and a bastion of free enterprise, thinks it may have found a way to end crippling air ambulance bills that can top $100,000 per flight. The state’s unexpected solution? Undercut the free market by using Medicaid to treat air ambulances like a public utility. The issue has come to a head in Wyoming, where rugged terrain and long distances between hospitals forces reliance on these ambulance flights. Costs for such emergency transports have been soaring, with some patients facing massive unexpected bills as the free-f...
Source: JEMS Operations - August 27, 2019 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Rescue & Vehicle Extrication News Ambulances Vehicle Ops Patient Care Operations Source Type: news

New Radiation Detector Provides Accurate Measurement in Extremely High Dose Rates and Significant Detector Sensitivity for Search and Find Missions
Photo: Thermo Fisher Scientific The RadEye SPRD-ER Personal Radiation Detector in use in this provided photo.   TEWKSBURY, Mass. -- Emergency response personnel who require fast and highly reliable radiation detection and identification, such as police officers, firefighters and hazmat specialists, can now utilize a new high-sensitivity personal radiation detector capable of detection at high range and in challenging environments for both search and find missions and hot zone response. The Thermo Scientific RadEye SPRD-ER Spectroscopic Personal Radiation Detector is an all-in-one extended range unit for search, f...
Source: JEMS Operations - August 26, 2019 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Operations Press Releases Equipment & Gear Source Type: news

Charges Expected in Florida Nursing Home Deaths
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Defense attorneys said Sunday that arrests are expected shortly in the case of a Florida nursing home where 12 patients died after its air conditioning power went out amid sweltering heat following Hurricane Irma in 2017. Lawrence Hashish told The Associated Press his client is one of three nurses, in addition to an administrator, expecting to be charged in connection with the deaths after Hurricane Irma, which blew through Florida on Sept. 10 of that year. The storm knocked out a transformer linking the main air-conditioning unit to the power grid at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hi...
Source: JEMS Operations - August 26, 2019 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: News Patient Care AP News Tag Operations Source Type: news

Watch Now: The Unbox It Series: Hartwell Medical CombiCarrierII
(Source: JEMS Operations)
Source: JEMS Operations - August 23, 2019 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: A.J. Heightman, MPA, EMT P Tags: Rescue & Vehicle Extrication News Videos Equipment Gear Operations Source Type: news

The Unbox It Series: Hartwell Medical CombiCarrierII
(Source: JEMS Operations)
Source: JEMS Operations - August 23, 2019 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: A.J. Heightman, MPA, EMT P Tags: Rescue & Vehicle Extrication News Videos Equipment Gear Operations Source Type: news

Compromise Reached in EMS Pay Dispute in Duplin County, N.C.
  WITN-TV DUPLIN COUNTY, N.C. – After struggling to keep emergency medical personnel on staff because of low wages, county commissioners approved a pay raise on Monday, just not as much as first responders hoped for. The Duplin County EMS Department proposed a 17 percent pay raise for all staff. On Monday, the county signed off on a 10 percent pay bump, saying it was a fair compromise, WITN-TV reported. The station reports the county has struggled to keep staff in the past because of low pay. With the pay raise, a Duplin County paramedic will be paid $16.44 an hour. Paramedics in nearby counties earn anywhere betwee...
Source: JEMS Operations - August 21, 2019 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: News Operations Source Type: news

Stealth Power Keeps Ambulances Rolling in NYC
Photo Stealth Power Stealth Power is working with the Fire Department of New York to reduce fuel consumption in their ambulances.   AUSTIN, TEXAS - Stealth Power, the leader in intelligent energy and idle reduction technology, is working with the Fire Department of New York City (FDNY) to reduce fuel consumption in their ambulances, cut operational costs and lower carbon emissions. The largest and busiest fire department in the US, FDNY responds to almost 2 million emergencies every year, serving more than 8.5 million people within a 302-square-mile area. For rapid response time, the department keeps more than 40...
Source: JEMS Operations - August 21, 2019 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Ambulances & Vehicle Ops Press Releases Operations Source Type: news

Woodstock at 50: EMS Response
Editor's note: Fifty years ago this week, “three days of peace and music” were underway at Max Yasgur's upstate New York farm. The 1969 Woodstock Festival had the potential to generate a medical disaster of epic proportions. Although the planning proved woefully inadequate, the festival came off with a minimum of death and injury.  For a look back at what happened, read "EMS at Woodstock," originally published in JEMS on April 28, 2010. (Source: JEMS Operations)
Source: JEMS Operations - August 16, 2019 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Major Incidents Exclusive Articles Patient Care Operations Source Type: news

17 Hospitalized in North Carolina Passenger Van Crash
HENRICO, N.C. (AP) — First responders in North Carolina say 17 people have been brought to the hospital with injuries ranging from critical to nonurgent after a multi-passenger van rolled over and crashed. Gaston Fire, Rescue and EMS posted in a Facebook news release that agencies responded to a crash report Thursday evening near Henrico, North Carolina, and found more than a dozen injured. It says 11 patients were in nonurgent condition, five were urgent and one was critical. Officials say one was victim was found trapped inside the van and responders used hydraulic rescue cutters and saws to remove them. At least five ...
Source: JEMS Operations - August 16, 2019 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Rescue & Vehicle Extrication News AP News Tag Source Type: news

Former NASCAR Racer Dale Earnhardt Jr., Family and Crew Escape Plane Crash
ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. (AP) — Dale Earnhardt Jr. was taken to a hospital after his plane crashed in east Tennessee. The NASCAR television analyst and former driver's sister, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, tweeted that "everyone is safe and has been taken to the hospital for further evaluation." Federal Aviation Administration officials said a Cessna Citation rolled off the end of a runway and caught fire after landing at Elizabethton Municipal Airport at 3:40 p.m. Thursday. FAA officials said the preliminary indication is that two pilots and three passengers were aboard. Carter County Sheriff's Office spokesman Thomas G...
Source: JEMS Operations - August 15, 2019 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: News Operations Source Type: news