Alameda County EMS System Report -2012 Vision Alameda County EMS will explore new frontiers while creating an environment where collaboration and consensus building thrive among staff and stakeholders Mission Alameda County EMS ensures the provision of quality emergency medical services and prevention programs to improve health and safety in Alameda County Values Alameda County EMS values a caring environment sustained by empowerment, honesty, integrity and mutual respect. We embrace excellence through innovation, teamwork and community capacity building Alameda County EMS System Report -2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Overview of the County ................................................................. 1 Local Emergency Medical Services (EMS) ........................................ 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 Responsibilities ........................................................................................................................ 2 EMS Funding ............................................................................................................................ 2 The EMS Agency ...................................................................................................................... 2 Contract for Ambulance Service .............................................................................................. 3 First Responder Advanced Life Support (FRALS) ..................................................................... 4 Medical Control ....................................................................................................................... 5 Receiving Hospitals .................................................................................................................. 6 Dispatch & Communications ................................................................................................... 7 Highlighted Programs .................................................................... 7 Sudden Cardiac Arrest – New Modalities that Improve Survival ............................................ 7 Systems Approach to Cardiac Arrest ....................................................................................... 9 County-Wide Automatic External Defibrillators .................................................................... 10 Project HeartSAFE – Putting More Defibrillators into the Community ................................. 11 CPR7 – Training Seventh Graders to Save Lives .................................................................... 11 Stroke Centers – Saving Brain Cells Through Early Recognition & Treatment ...................... 12 Sepsis Program – Identifying Patients with Serious Systemic Infections .............................. 13 Regional Disaster Medical/Health Coordination Program .................................................... 13 Programs for At-Risk Youth ................................................................................................... 14 Program Specific Information ...................................................... 14 Ambulance Ordinance ........................................................................................................... 14 Trauma System ...................................................................................................................... 15 Disaster & Bioterrorism Preparedness: ................................................................................. 16 EMTs & Paramedics ............................................................................................................... 17 Critical Care Transport—Paramedic (CTT-P) Program........................................................... 19 Information Technology ........................................................................................................ 19 Page i Unusual Occurrence Reports ................................................................................................. 19 Health Equity ......................................................................................................................... 20 Climate Change and Public Health ........................................................................................ 20 Legislative Council Liaison ..................................................................................................... 20 ReddiNet ................................................................................................................................ 20 EMS News .............................................................................................................................. 21 EMS Week Activities .............................................................................................................. 21 Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) .................................................................................. 21 Injury Prevention ........................................................................ 23 Injury Prevention Programs For Children .............................................................................. 23 Senior Injury Prevention Program (SIPP) ............................................................................... 26 Staff Directory ............................................................................ 30 Values, Mission, Vision Statement Page ii OVERVIEW OF THE COUNTY lameda County, located east of San Francisco across the Oakland Bay Bridge, is one of nine Aco unties that make up the San Francisco Bay Area. The eastern zone has a low population density and vast expanses of open space, working ranches and agricultural areas. The rest of the County is urban/suburban and industrial. Alameda The Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) runs north/south and east/west Albany Berkeley through the County, and services the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Dublin Emeryville San Mateo (San Francisco Airport), and San Francisco. The Bay Area has Fremont many commuters and most use automobiles. Rush hour traffic is Hayward Livermore particularly heavy on the four major freeways within the County, Newark Oakland Interstates 80, 580, 680 and 880. Piedmont Pleasanton The County has a population of approximately 1.5 million, and includes 14 San Leandro incorporated cities and five unincorporated communities. Alameda Union City County is connected to counties on the other side of the Bay by three Ashland Castro Valley bridges. Alameda County is connected to San Francisco via the Oakland Bay Bridge Cherryland San Lorenzo and to San Mateo County by the San Mateo and Dumbarton Bridges. Other Sunol surrounding counties are Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Marin, Solano and San Joaquin. There are a number of active earthquake faults in the area. Densely populated areas, including most of the hospitals in Alameda County, are located along the Hayward Fault. The area is also at risk for mudslides and wildfires. LOCAL EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES (EMS) Introduction The Alameda County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Agency continues to be a visionary leader in local, regional and national EMS. We provide oversight for all aspects of the EMS system in our county; this includes monitoring dispatch centers, first responder paramedic engines, transporting ambulances, and receiving hospitals. EMS is piloting several new projects. One of these is the sepsis program. It was designed to identify patients with infections during the prehospital encounter, thus reducing the time from arrival at an emergency department to the administration of antibiotics. This reduced time has been shown to decrease both morbidity and mortality in patients with sepsis, a severe infection that has spread throughout the patient’s body. The CPR7 program is another example of an innovative approach to improving prehospital cardiac arrest survival. CPR7 trains seventh graders in CPR and provides the tools for them to train family and friends, thus increasing the number of citizens who can provide this life saving intervention. This program has trained over 10,000 seventh graders as well as 30,000 of their family members in performing CPR each year. Page 1 EMS is working with county and community partners to expand the newly created EMS Corps, a program to train at-risk urban youths as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), a first step toward a career in EMS and other healthcare professions. EMS also conducts a robust Injury Prevention program aimed at seniors, teens and children to reduce the number and severity of traumatic cases. Responsibilities Alameda County EMS is a part of the Health Care Services Agency and a division of the Public Health Department. The EMS Director is responsible for system oversight. The Local EMS Agency (LEMSA) is the local government agency designated to plan, implement, and evaluate the local EMS System. Each LEMSA is charged by the State with implementing statutes, regulations and local policies for the local EMS system. Every EMS Agency in the State is required to submit an EMS System Plan with annual updates. The most recent update of the EMS System Plan was approved by the State in June, 2011, and is available online at acphd.org/ems. EMS is responsible for procurement of emergency ambulance services for the countywide Exclusive Operating Area (EOA) and for monitoring contract compliance. In a disaster, EMS has authority for dispatching medical resources. EMS Funding The County’s original timetable