DOCSLIB.ORG

UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara Emergency Medical Service Ambulance System Planning

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara Emergency Medical Service Ambulance System Planning UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara Emergency Medical Service Ambulance System Planning: History and Models A Thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Geography by Carlos Alain Baez Tapia Committee in charge: Professor Richard L. Church, Chair Professor Stuart H. Sweeney Professor Alan T. Murray December 2017 The thesis of Carlos Alain Baez Tapia is approved. _____________________________________________ Alan T. Murray _____________________________________________ Stuart H. Sweeney _____________________________________________ Richard L. Church, Committee Chair December 2017 Emergency Medical Service Ambulance System Planning: History and Models Copyright © 2017 by Carlos Alain Baez Tapia iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to dedicate this thesis to my grandpa Carlos Baez who is unfortunately not here to see me finish this thesis. Que en paz descanse. Second, I want to thank my parents Carlos and Elva Baez for the incredible sacrifices they had to make beginning with our journey from Michoacán, Mexico all the way through UCSB and today. Third, I want to thank my family: my grandmas, uncles (including Gordo), aunts, my brother Erwin and even my sister Amber. In one way or another I would not be here without your help. Fourth, I want to thank my colleagues at UCSB and elsewhere that helped in more way or another. I especially want to thank Grant Brokenzie, Dan Ervin, Mike Alonzo, Kevin Mwenda, Olaf Mezner, Lumari Pardo, Jacky Banks(!), Matt and Tim Niblett, Yiting Ju, Dylan Parenti, the fifth floor, and everyone else (not that I mean to exclude anyone but I have a filing deadline!). I also want to thank Jose Saleta who was invaluable to every graduate student at UCSB Geography and just a wonderful person who is dearly missed. Fifth, I want to thank all my friends (not mentioned above) that helped me get here in one way or another. I don’t think I could’ve done it without your support (that includes letting me crash on your couch). So thank you Jesse Vasquez, Erin Corrigan, Sonya, Michelle Himden, Saba Dowlatshahi, Ryan Darby, Svetlin “Foolio” Bostandjiev, Don “I love Mayo” Buyers, Maciek Baranski, Atif Khan, Taylor Horgan, Laurel Patterson, all my friends from the Merton, Fernando Castorena, Sergio Herrera and Lenny, Yuri N., Andrew “Ding Dong” Johnson (unfortunately), and that’s again just at the top of my head. Sixth, shout out to my bros/the gang Nick, Yasin, Cody, Gaykers, Rel (I guess), Colleen, Vicky, Debi, Andrew, Quade, JeBee, Arman Bro, Jen and Dorian, and also, Elaine and Joe, who unfortunately can’t be here with us. For lack of better words, your friendship means so much to me. Seventh, I really want to thank my adviser Rick “The Doc” Church. I don’t know how I’m still here or where I would be it wasn’t for his brilliance, compassion, and patience. We’re still not done but thanks keeping me along! Lastly, I would like to say, THANKS OBAMA. In 2012, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to stay at UCSB but out of nowhere DACA came out. So thank you, President Barrack Obama. #RESIST iv ABSTRACT Emergency Medical Service Ambulance System Planning: History and Models by Carlos Alain Baez Tapia Integer linear programming models that incorporate probabilistic and stochastic components represent one approach for capturing the stochastic nature of emergency medical service ambulance systems. This includes modeling non-deterministic call arrival and servicing rates and congestion in the ambulance network (i.e., ambulance unavailability). These models focus on maximizing the total population that can find an available ambulance within a set service time standard (s) with a probability of at least α%. In MALP the concept of local vehicle busyness estimates is introduced to estimate the availability of service in a neighborhood given the neighborhood’s level of demand and the number of ambulance vehicles located in the neighborhood. QMALP is an extension of MALP where queue-theory derived parameters are implemented in the MALP model framework in order to relax the assumption that the probability of different ambulances being busy are independent. Despite this considerable development, several concerns remained about MALP and QMALP, namely the districting assumption where its assumed that a neighborhood’s calls for service are served only by an ambulance in the area, that ambulances in a neighborhood only serve calls for service originating within the neighborhood, or that at least the flow of ambulance service to and from external v neighborhoods was roughly equal. Questions have been raised about the validity of MALP and QMALP’s reliability estimates, that is, whether a neighborhood actually received α- reliable service. To address these issues, we developed the Resource-Constrained Queue-based Maximum Availability Location Problem (RC-QMALP). This model is based on a location-allocation framework that (1) assigns workload from neighborhoods to ambulances located within s and ambulance idle capacity to neighborhoods and (2) includes additional constraints designed to help ensure the validity of the original MALP and QMALP constraints used to establish whether a neighborhood can find an available ambulance with α-reliability. We also implemented a secondary minsum objective that minimizes the average travel distance between ambulances and the neighborhoods they service while maintaining the priority of the MALP and QMALP coverage objective. In this thesis, we validated RC-QMALP by comparing the reliable coverage levels predicted by the RC-QMALP to the ambulance system simulations that used the locational configurations suggested by the RC-QMALP. We found that MALP 2 and QMALP provided higher levels of reliable coverage and that RC-QMALP’s secondary objective has a negligible impact on system performance. However, RC-QMALP-based models provide more accurate estimates of reliable coverage and location solutions whose simulated reliable coverage performance was always within 5% of the optimal solution with the same system parameters (we tested 1,080 different model configurations). Our work suggests that (1) more work is needed on developing simulation models that can accommodate the modeling assumptions that underlie location optimization models and that (2) service vi reliability location models should consider additional factors such as ambulance workloads (and their distribution). vii TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Thesis Scope and Motivation ....................................................................................................... 5 1.2 Thesis Organization ...................................................................................................................... 7 2. History of Emergency Medical Service System Planning .................................................................. 8 2.1 Early EMS Systems in the United States ..................................................................................... 8 2.2 Prelude to the Quantitative Revolution in EMS System Planning and Management ................. 11 2.3 Developments in Emergency Medical Service Policy ............................................................... 28 2.4 The Systems Approach for Planning and Managing Emergency Medical Services .................. 35 2.5 Location Science and EMS Systems .......................................................................................... 40 2.6 Discussion .................................................................................................................................. 64 3. Model Formulation Background ...................................................................................................... 65 3.1 Fundamental Models .................................................................................................................. 66 3.2 Modeling Capacity and Congestion in Location Models ........................................................... 74 3.3 Essential Probabilistic and Stochastic Location Models ............................................................ 94 4. The Resource Constrained Queuing Maximum Availability Location Problem ............................ 135 4.1 Model Formulation ................................................................................................................... 138 4.2 Model Components .................................................................................................................. 141 4.3 Discussion ................................................................................................................................ 144 5. Results and Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 154 5.1 Experiments .............................................................................................................................. 155 5.2 Results ...................................................................................................................................... 160 viii 6. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 214 References .......................................................................................................................................... 216 Appendix
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Toronto Paramedic Services
    CAPITAL PROGRAM SUMMARY 2015 – 2024 CAPITAL BUDGET AND PLAN OVERVIEW Toronto Paramedic Services (PS) is responsible for providing 24-hour emergency pre-hospital and out-of- hospital medical care and transportation to individuals experiencing injury or illness. Toronto Paramedic Services currently operates 45 ambulance stations which includes 5 service district centres, and the Toronto Paramedic Services' headquarters that have a total area of just over 289,056 sq. ft. and an Toronto Paramedic Services estimated replacement value of $122.569 million. toronto.ca/budget 2015 The 2015–2024 Capital Budget and Plan of $71.123 million focuses on the lifecycle replacement of major medical and Highlights communications equipment as well as addresses the increase in service demands due to a growing and aging Toronto population Overview & Recommendations by investing in the purchase of additional ambulance vehicles I: 10-Year Capital Plan 6 and construction of 3 new stations that will provide multi- function facilities for staff and vehicles to improve the efficient II: 2015 Capital Budget 16 use of City land/assets and more effective use of paramedic III: Issues for Discussion 20 resources. Appendices: 1. 2014 Performance 24 2. 10-Year Capital Plan Summary 27 3. 2015 Capital Budget; 2016-2024 Capital Plan 28 4. 2015 Cash Flow & Future Year Commitments 29 5. 2015 Capital Projects with Financing Detail 30 6. 2015 Reserve / Reserve Fund Review 31 toronto.ca/budget 2015 Page 2 2015 Capital Budget Toronto Paramedic Services Capital Spending and Financing Where does the money go? The 2015–2024 Capital Budget and Plan totals 2015-2024 Capital Budget and Plan by $71.123 million that will fund the following Expenditures Category major capital projects over the 10-year period: .
    [Show full text]
  • PS COMMITTEE #2 April 29, 2021 Revised Worksession MEMORANDUM April 26, 2021 TO
    PS COMMITTEE #2 April 29, 2021 Revised Worksession M E M O R A N D U M April 26, 2021 TO: Public Safety Committee FROM: Susan J. Farag, Legislative Analyst SUBJECT: Worksession: FY22 Operating Budget and FY21-26 CIP Amendments Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) PURPOSE: Vote on Recommendations for Council’s Consideration Those expected for this worksession: Chief Scott Goldstein, MCFRS Dominic Del Pozzo, Division Chief, MCFRS Rachel Silberman, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Budget Summary • There are no proposed service cuts in the FY22 Recommended Operating Budget. • There are 10 new Paramedic Training Positions that help address understaffing. • There are one new Paramedic Chase Car and one new Daywork Ambulance to enhance EMS Service Delivery. • The Fire Department audit will be split into two studies, one for operations and one for racial equity and social justice, at a total cost of $200,000. • The Executive’s March 15 amendments to the Capital Improvements Program has minor adjustments to several projects. Overview For FY22, the County Executive recommends total expenditures of $232,685,066 for MCFRS, a 3.5% increase from the FY21 Approved Budget of 224,995,408. FY20 FY21 FY22 CE % Change Actual Approved Recommended FY21-22 Expenditures by fund Fire Tax District $244,508,043 $224,869,427 $232,685,066 3.5% Grant Fund $3,355,713 $125,981 $0 -100.0% TOTAL Expenditures $247,863,756 $224,995,408 $232,685,066 3.4% Positions: Full-time 1317 1318 1,327 0.7% Part-time 0 0 0 -- TOTAL Positions 1317 1318 1327 0.7% TOTAL FTEs 1318.26 1319.26 1,328.26 0.7% The FY20 County Executive’s recommendation is a net increase of $7,815,639.
    [Show full text]
  • Evaluation of Paramedics Tasks and Equipment to Control the Risk of Musculoskeletal Injury
    FINDING SOLUTIONS Research at the Workers’ Compensation Board 1150-20 B 1999 (99FS-14) EVALUATION OF PARAMEDICS TASKS AND EQUIPMENT TO CONTROL THE RISK OF MUSCULOSKELETAL INJURY Ambulance Paramedics of British Columbia © 2001 Workers’ Compensation Board of British Columbia. All rights reserved. The Workers’ Compensation Board of B.C. encourages the copying, reproduction, and distribution of this document to promote health and safety in the workplace, provided that the Workers’ Compensation Board of B.C. is acknowledged. However, no part of this publication may be copied, reproduced, or distributed for profit or other commercial enterprise or may be incorporated into any other publication without written permission of the Workers’ Compensation Board of B.C. Additional copies of this publication may be obtained by contacting: Workers’ Compensation Board of British Columbia Publications & Videos Department 6711 Elmbridge Way Richmond, BC V7C 4N1 Phone (604) 276-3068 / Fax (604) 279-7406 Toll-free within BC – 1-800-661-2112 1150-20 A1999 (99FS-14 Evaluation of Paramedics Tasks and Equipment to Control the Risk of Musculoskeletal Injury Issue: Reducing the risk of musculoskeletal injury for paramedics. Agency: Ambulance Paramedics of British Columbia CUPE Local 873 Representative: Donald Cragg Funding: $49,500.00 Context: A paramedic’s work environment is often unpredictable. The confined space of the patient compartment, the task requirements, and the configuration of equipment within the patient compartment contribute to the risk of MSI. Currently there is little information regarding design guidance for ambulances and related equipment that is based on prevention of MSI through the application of ergonomic principles. Objective: To evaluate aspects of the main stretcher and patient compartment of the ambulance that contribute to the risk of musculoskeletal injury for paramedics, to priortize issues and suggest possible solutions, and to evaluate two of the suggested solutions.
    [Show full text]
  • Careers in the Ambulance Service Make a Difference Careers in Healthcare Science 2
    Join the team and Careers in the ambulance service make a difference Careers in healthcare science 2 Welcome to the NHS The NHS offers a huge range of exciting and challenging opportunities for people who are passionate about making a difference. With more than 350 different careers on offer, there is a job for you no matter what your interests, skills or qualifications. What’s more, you’ll be given every opportunity to build on your skills and learn new ones as part of the Career Framework – a system that demonstrates our commitment to skills development. See pages 10 and 11 for more information about this. Scientists, accountants, porters, psychologists, nurses, information technologists and estate managers, to name but a few, are all needed to ensure the smooth running of the NHS. These people, and many more, work together as a team to deliver the very best care for our patients. To find out more about becoming a member of the NHS team, call 0345 60 60 655, email [email protected] or visit www.nhscareers.nhs.uk We look forward to hearing from you! Contents 2 The NHS – a rewarding place to work 12 What opportunities are available? Benefits Ambulance care assistants Pay and conditions Assistant practitioners Work-life balance Call handlers Emergency medical dispatchers 6 Your career in the ambulance service Paramedics Patient transport services controllers 10 Career Framework Senior paramedics Developing your career in the NHS 16 Getting started NHS Constitution Entry level/assistant roles Graduate opportunities and approved courses Work placements 19 What’s your next step? Foreword In this booklet you’ll learn about the exciting range Whatever your academic background, preferences of opportunities that today’s ambulance service has and interests, if you would like to help others in a to offer.
    [Show full text]
  • 3201 Ambulance Permits
    Administrative Policy 3201 Effective Expires April 1, 2021 March 31, 2022 Policy: Approval: Medical Director Signed Ambulance Permits Reza Vaezazizi, MD Applies To: Approval: EMS Administrator Signed Transport Services, EMS System Trevor Douville PURPOSE To establish criteria for permitting ambulance operations within Riverside County. AUTHORITY California Health and Safety Code - Division 2.5: Emergency Medical Services [1797.200.] California Health and Safety Code - Division 2.5: Emergency Medical Services [1797.222.] County of Riverside Ordinance 756 (Ambulance Ordinance) Initial Permit Application To receive an ambulance service permit, the applicant must: 1. Complete and submit an interest letter in the form of an ambulance permit pre-application form. The form can be found here: https://rivcoems.org/Programs/Ambulance-Permits 2. Complete the Riverside County Emergency Medical Services Agency (REMSA) ambulance permit application. 3. Initial ambulance permit applications are accepted from July 1 thru September 30 each year. Completed application must be submitted to REMSA no later than September 30. 4. All BLS services must establish an EMT AED program which meets or exceeds the requirements of the REMSA Policy for EMT AED Service Provider. 5. Each ambulance will utilize two-way communications equipment, as specified by REMSA, capable of direct two- way voice communications with the first response agencies and ALS transport services operating within the Riverside County EMS system; and with REMSA. 6. Each ground ambulance service must establish at least one ambulance station within Riverside County. a. Each ambulance based at that location must be available as a disaster resource within one hour of REMSA request. b. Each ambulance station will comply with all applicable zoning, building, and occupational health and safety regulations.
    [Show full text]
  • Elko County Human Services Employment Opportunity Announcement
    Position opens: 11/23/16 Elko County Human Services Employment Opportunity Announcement POSITION: Assistant Ambulance Director SALARY: Step 1 - $23.3173 Step 2 - $24.0168 Step 3 - $24.7373 APPLICATION DEADLINE: December 2, 2016 Grade 524/22702 Elko County is accepting applications for the position of Assistant Ambulance Director. This is an hourly position within the Elko County Ambulance Services responsible for assisting the Ambulance Director with day-to-day management of the Ambulance Service. This includes duties as a responding paramedic and supporting the comprehensive administrative, operational, and clinical functions of the department. Must be a current ECAS Paramedic to be eligible for promotion. It is the intent to fill this position by intra-department promotion. Applications outside of the Elko County Ambulance Department will not be accepted. 100% PERS Retirement Minimal Fee for Employee Health, Vision, Dental and Life Insurance Obtain an application and full job description at www.elkocountynv.net. Elko County Human Services 540 Court St, Suite 105 (Physical Address) 571 Idaho St. (Mailing Address) Elko, NV 89801 (775) 738-4375 phone (775) 738-5984 fax Elko County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer In compliance with applicable laws reasonable accommodations may be provided for qualified individuals with a disability who require and request such accommodations. ASSISTANT AMBULANCE DIRECTOR DEFINITION This is an hourly position within the Elko County Ambulance Services responsible for assisting the Ambulance Director with day-to-day management of the Ambulance Service. This includes duties as a responding paramedic and supporting the comprehensive administrative, operational, and clinical functions of the department.
    [Show full text]
  • CMS Cost Data Collection Round 1 Master File
    Medicare Ground Ambulance Data Collection Ground Ambulance Providers and Suppliers Selected to Submit Data in Year 1 Note: This list consists of randomly selected ground ambulance providers and suppliers that submitted and were paid for at least one ground ambulance claim to Medicare in 2017, the most recent year for which CMS has complete claims data, using the NPI listed. We are aware that some of the organizations listed may not be enrolled in or may not be furnishing ground ambulance services at present. However, all ambulance organizations on this list must confirm with their MAC the starting date for their data collection period. Please see the Medicare Ground Ambulance webpage for more details concerning this data collection. This website is available at: https://www.cms.gov/Center/Provider-Type/Ambulances-Services-Center.html If you have questions concerning this data collection please email us at: [email protected] Sampled NPPES National Mailing Provider Address Identifier (NPI) NPPES Organization Name State 1023069622 MUNICIPALITY OF ANCHORAGE AK 1225101041 NORTON SOUND HEALTH CORPORATION AK 1376598755 TRI -VALLEY VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT AK 1407928898 CITY OF ANDERSON AK 1477687374 MUNICIPALITY OF NENANA AK 1619005683 CITY OF BETHEL AK 1720039076 FAIRBANKS NORTH STAR BOROUGH AK 1871754473 LIFEMED ALASKA, LLC AK 1013098300 DEKALB COUNTY HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION AL 1043746902 LIFEGUARD AMBULANCE SERVICE LLC AL 1073931515 LIFEGUARD AMBULANCE SERVICE LLC AL 1114090909 CLAY COUNTY RESCUE SQUAD AL 1134377062 NORTHSTAR
    [Show full text]
  • 2008 DEMSOC Annual Report
    DEDEMSOMSOCC Delaware Ememergeencyncy Medical Serviviceces Oversight Council 20082008 AnnualAnnual ReportReport Dedicated to the everyday heroes who have given the ultimate sacrifice … ParaParamedic EMT-B Stephanianie Callllaway Michelchellele ((NewNewttoon) Smith The Honorable Jack Markelell,, GoGovernor Page Left Blank Intentionally April 15, 2009 To the Citizens of Delaware: On Behalf of Governor Jack Markell and the Delaware Emergency Medical Services Oversight Council (DEMSOC), I am pleased to present the 2008 DEMSOC Annual Report. DEMSOC was created in 1999 to promote the continuous development and improvement of our Emergency Medical Services (EMS) System. There can be no greater reminder of the sacrifice that the men and women of Delaware’s Emergency Medical Community make than the line-of-duty deaths of Stephanie Calloway and Michelle Smith. This year’s DEMSOC report is dedicated to the memory of Stephanie and Michelle and all who have given the ultimate sacrifice while providing care to someone else. The membership of DEMSOC includes professionals from several EMS provider agencies, representatives from agencies that frequently work with and support EMS, and private citizens knowledgeable in the delivery of EMS care. The Council meets several times throughout the year to address current issues and provide support for developing workable solutions to those issues. The purpose of this report is to inform others about Delaware’s EMS system and increase awareness of the issues that most directly affect the delivery of EMS service and the quality of EMS patient care. Throughout the year we have witnessed great achievements in the EMS community and this report attempts to capture those successes as well as to build the framework for addressing the challenges that lie ahead.
    [Show full text]
  • Final Report Town of Northampton EMS Stu[...]
    Ron Graner Public Safety Consultant Strategic Planning For Efficiency Effectiveness & Safety 19 Gazebo Path Fayetteville NY 13066 10/14/19 Final Report A Comprehensive Review of Emergency Medical Services Northampton Ambulance Service Prepared For the Town of Northampton New York Primary Town of Northampton Contact William H. Gritsavage Councilman Town of Northampton 412 S. Main St, PO Box 479, Northville, NY 12134 Final Report EMS Services Study for Town of Northampton NY Ron Graner Public Safety Consultant Phone: 770 630 0104 Email: [email protected] HTTP://FIRERESCUECONSULTING.COM Page 1 of 127 Table of Contents Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................. 2 Project Goals .................................................................................................................................... 5 Disclaimer ........................................................................................................................................ 5 Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... 6 Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................... 7 Immediate Actions Required To Assure Efficient, Effective & Safe Emergency Medical Services in Northampton .............................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Ambulance Station Newapproachcomprehensive Report
    Central Medical Services Ltd Ambulance Station Quality Report 4, Robey Close, Linby, Nottinghamshire, NG15 8AA Tel:0333 012 4018 Date of inspection visit: 18 July & 24th July 2016 Website: www.centralmedicalservices.co.uk Date of publication: 29/09/2017 This report describes our judgement of the quality of care at this provider. It is based on a combination of what we found when we inspected, other information know to CQC and information given to us from patients, the public and other organisations. 1 Ambulance Station Quality Report 29/09/2017 Summary of findings Letter from the Chief Inspector of Hospitals Ambulance Station is operated by Central Medical Services. The service provides emergency and urgent care and patient transport services. The service has a service level agreement with a local NHS ambulance service and other NHS organisations. It also provides emergency care provision at public events, which is not inspected by Care Quality Commission (CQC) because this falls outside of the scope of CQC registration. We inspected this service using our comprehensive inspection methodology. We carried out the announced part of the inspection on 18 July 2017, along with an unannounced visit to the service on 24 July 2017. To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we ask the same five questions of all services: are they safe, effective, caring, responsive to people's needs, and well-led? Throughout the inspection, we took account of what people told us and how the provider understood and complied with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The main service provided by this service which we regulate is patient transport services.
    [Show full text]
  • Cosumnes CSD Fire Department—Standards of Cover and Headquarters Services Assessment Volume 2—Technical Report
    Folsom (Sacramento), CA Management Consultants Standards of Cover and Headquarters Services Assessment for the Cosumnes CSD Fire Department Volume 2 of 3 – Technical Report May 26, 2015 2250 East Bidwell St., Ste #100 Folsom, CA 95630 (916) 458-5100 Fax: (916) 983-2090 This page was intentionally left blank Cosumnes CSD Fire Department—Standards of Cover and Headquarters Services Assessment Volume 2—Technical Report TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page VOLUME 1 of 3 – Executive Summary (separately bound) VOLUME 2 of 3 – Standards of Cover and Headquarters Services Assessment Technical Report (this volume) Section 1—Introduction and Background ...................................................................................1 1.1 Report Organization ........................................................................................ 1 1.2 Project Scope of Work .................................................................................... 2 1.3 District and Department Overview .................................................................. 4 1.4 Previous Studies of the Cosumnes Fire Department ....................................... 6 Section 2—Standards of Coverage Introduction ........................................................................7 2.1 Standards of Coverage Study Processes .......................................................... 7 Section 3—District Deployment Goals/Measures and Risk Assessment ................................11 3.1 Why Does the Department Exist and How Does it Deliver the Existing Fire
    [Show full text]
  • A Feasibility Study of the Placement of an Emergency Medical Services Vehicle/Ambulance in Every County
    Mississippi State Department of Health Division of Emergency Medical Services MSDH Report to House and Senate Public Health and Welfare Committees December 2001 Emergency Medical Services A Feasibility Study of the Placement of an Emergency Medical Services Vehicle/Ambulance in Every County in Mississippi, With Focus on Benton, Carroll, Greene and Smith Counties Jim Craig, State EMS Director Mississippi State Department of Health P.O. Box 1700, Jackson, Mississippi 39215-1700 (601) 576-7366 - Voice, (601) 576-7373 - Fax Introduction On a typical day in Mississippi, hundreds of people face medical emergencies that require immediate treatment before reaching a hospital. For these people, emergency medical services (EMS) systems B including a 911 telephone dispatch center, medical treatment by responding emergency personnel, and emergency transportation to a hospital B are the front line of care. In some situations, emergency services can be the difference between life and death. For example, chances of surviving a sudden cardiac arrest decrease an estimated 10 percent for every minute=s delay in treatment. People who need such emergency, prehospital care depend on well-trained personnel reaching them quickly, identifying the type of treatment they need, and, in the case of life-threatening situations such as cardiac arrest, administering needed life-sustaining treatment wherever the person may be. EMS systems are primarily local, but the state plays a major role in regulating them. The federal government has also adopted a role supporting and promoting efforts to improve EMS systems B for example, by making the improvement of EMS a national health priority. In its Healthy People 2010 initiative outlining health care improvement goals for the next decade, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 2 established a goal of increasing the proportion of people who can be reached by EMS within 5 minutes in urban areas and within 10 minutes in rural areas.
    [Show full text]