Vivint Live can assist customers through any emergency situation- -day or night--with average response times of less than 10 seconds and a staff that is available 24x7x365.

"The second most common call we receive from customers is for EMS," said Steve Dixon, vice president of customer experience and operations at Vivint. "At Vivint, it is essential for us to lend support during these moments with little or no warning, and the fact that we set the industry standard in emergency response time shows just how important we feel the Vivint Live feature is to our customers."

Upon receiving an alarm, a Vivint in-house monitoring professional speaks to the customer through the touchscreen panel to assess the situation. If an emergency is confirmed, the trained Vivint monitoring professional dispatches emergency personnel to the customer's residence. This helps decrease the number of false alarms while giving paramedics clear information about what they are about to encounter.

Vivint customer Lawrence Scheel from Colorado Springs, Colorado, used Vivint Live when his daughter's severe peanut allergy was triggered unexpectedly, resulting in a life-threatening reaction. Scheel's wife pressed the emergency button on their Vivint panel, and within seconds a Vivint agent was able to dispatch an ambulance.

"Before this happened, I questioned whether we needed an alarm system or if it was a good investment," Scheel said. "After this one incident I will never second guess our choice to go with Vivint. They truly saved our daughter's life."

Vivint's excellence in emergency response has been recognized nationally by the Central Station Alarm Association, which chose Vivint for its Central Station of the Year award for 2012. This award-winning monitoring service provides customers with comfort and support in unexpected situations.

Ilse Richard of Springfield, Oregon, is an active senior citizen in good health who never thought she would experience a fall that would leave her unable to get up.

"I was so scared, and I was in so much pain," said Richard. "But the Vivint monitoring agent comforted me at a time of terrible distress and stayed on the phone with me until help arrived. I live alone, so I could have been lying there for days. My doctor told me I would have been a goner without the fast response time. Now I sleep easier at night knowing that I have this protection."

With a one-time activation fee, plus a monthly monitoring charge, Vivint's home automation system provides simple, affordable home automation and security management. The Vivint solution also can manage thermostats, lighting features, and small appliances. Customers can add or subtract products to create a unique solution that meets the needs of their homes, families, and lives. To learn more about Vivint's home security and home automation products, visit www.vivint.com.

About VivintVivint is a leading provider of home technology services in North America. Vivint's technology-based platform integrates a wide range of wireless features and components that deliver simple, affordable home security, energy management, home automation, and solar solutions. In 2011, Vivint's Home Automation package and Advanced Security package received a Consumers Digest "Best Buy" rating. Dedicated to protecting families, increasing energy efficiency, and simplifying lives, Vivint has more than 13 years of experience and supports over 700,000 customers throughout the United States and Canada. For more information, visit the company's website at www.vivint.com.

Press ContactsVivint Inc.Megan HerrickDirector of Public Relationsmherrick@vivint.com

SOURCE Vivint

Originally published by Vivint.

© 2013 PRNewswire. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

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View the full article]]> Wed, 22 May 2013 14:04:26 +0000 7302e3f5e7c072aea8801faf8a492be0 http://www.emtcity.com/page/articles.html/_/articles/air-ambulance-helicopter-will-be-the-star-of-su-r885 Tickets have gone on sale for the summer ball, which is being held in the hangar at the charity's headquarters at Newquay Airport on July 27. Guests will be able to dance the night away airside with the helicopter itself as a backdrop. Fundraising co-ordinator Tom Matthews said: It's great being able to use our hangar for events such as this. It's a unique space that we'll make look absolutely stunning.

We're inviting people to join us for an evening of great food, live entertainment, a casino and an auction with some unique prizes.

Maybe you'd like to spoil someone in your life or get together with a few friends and make a night of it; whatever the reason, we'd love to see you there and we can guarantee a great night.

Guests will also be able to find out more about the charity's work and even win a dinner with the aircrew.

Earlier this year the charity announced a new helicopter contract, due to start at the end of 2014, significantly increasing the number of missions it can fly.

Chief executive Paula Martin said: Being such a vital emergency service, it's very easy to forget that we're a charity 100 per cent funded thanks to the generosity of the general public. People are often shocked to find out we don't receive money from central or local government and that without the public and businesses supporting us we simply wouldn't be here.

The summer ball is a great excuse to celebrate the service, dress to the nines and have a ball. Tickets and tables can be booked at www.cornwallairambulancetrust.org

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View the full article]]> Wed, 22 May 2013 12:57:46 +0000 d523773c6b194f37b938d340d5d02232 http://www.emtcity.com/page/articles.html/_/articles/a-kiss-for-my-little-hero-;-hugs-at-a-bravery-a-r886 A COOL and calm seven-yearold girl who saved her grandmother''s life has been presented with her second bravery award. Autumn Carey received the Amelia Earhart Medal of Achievement yesterday for her ability to remain calm and follow the instructions from the ambulance service until they arrived at her grandmother''s isolated house near the village of Claudy. Autumn pinched and slapped her granny Heather just as she was told to do by the 999 operators, which kept her conscious until paramedics arrived after she fell ill last March. The little Londonderry girl was among 27 children in the city to receive the medal in recognition of bravery, academic achievement or coping with disabilities. The children were presented with their medals by Derry actress and singer Bronagh Gallagher, star of The Commitments and Pulp Fiction. The ceremony is part of the Amelia Earhart Festival which is running throughout the city in recognition of the American flyer, who became the first woman to successfully cross the Atlantic Ocean when she landed in Derry on May 21, 1932. Watching the presentation was Autumn''s grandfather Robert who beamed with pride and delight. He said: "This is a great day for Autumn and both me and her granny Heather are so proud of everything she has done. "When Heather took ill I knew she needed an ambulance but because we live in an isolated area outside Claudy they wouldn''t find the house without being shown. "The girl at the ambulance control centre said I should pass the phone to Autumn while I went down the lane, which is about half a mile, and waited for the ambulance to arrive. "Heather was slipping in and out of consciousness but Autumn did everything the girl in ambulance control said. "She nipped her granny in the face and slapped her to keep Heather conscious but she kept saying 'I am very sorry for hitting you granny, but I don''t want you to die''," he added. "When the ambulance arrived, the paramedics must have been getting reports from the ambulance centre in Belfast because they were able to tell me Autumn did everything perfectly.

"They told me that if it wasn''t for Autumn, Heather could have died.

She is a wee mother hen anyway but this was something very, very special and we are just so proud of her.

She is our 999 hero." It is the second time Autumn has been recognised for her ? bravery.

The Western Trust presented her with a certificate for her actions in March. Autumn insists she isn''t really a heroine and she only did what anyone would. She said: "I just did what the girl on the phone told me to do and I wasn''t too scared at all. "She told me to take care of my granny and to watch out for the blue lights on the ambulance, so I did."

factfile Amelia Earhart (right) was an American aviation pioneer and was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, setting many aviation records.

In May 1932 she set off from Newfoundland with the intention of flying to Paris. After mechanical problems she had to land in a pasture at Culmore, Co Londonderry. "Have you come far,'' '' the worried landowner famously asked. "From Newfoundland,'' '' she replied.

Originally published by BY DONNA DEENEY ddeeney@belfasttelegraph.co.uk.

© 2013 Belfast Telegraph. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

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View the full article]]> Wed, 22 May 2013 12:57:46 +0000 c366c2c97d47b02b24c3ecade4c40a01 http://www.emtcity.com/page/articles.html/_/articles/sedgwick-county-ems-seeks-new-crews-ambulance-r884 EMS projects a 3 percent increase in emergency calls and 1 percent in non-emergency calls each year.

Director Scott Hadley told commissioners on Tuesday that crews are working longer hours, which has led to emergency personnel becoming fatigued and taking more sick leave.

That concerns commissioners, who noted that tired emergency personnel could affect patient care.

"They have people's lives in their hands," Commission Chairman Jim Skelton said.

EMS handled 56,566 calls last year -- 50,764 emergencies and 5,802 considered not emergencies.

In 2004, total call volume was 41,821, records shared with commissioners showed. That had jumped to 54,242 total calls in 2011. More than 58,000 calls are projected for this year.

Not surprisingly, the number of hours worked on an ambulance is rising. Paramedics also have other duties, such as stocking ambulances, filling out paperwork and training, Hadley said.

In 2012, Sedgwick County EMS workers handled calls in an ambulance an average 5.4 hours of a 12-hour shift. The industry standard is an average 4.8 hours of a 12-hour shift, Hadley said. Inside the city limits of Wichita, the number of hours spent handling calls in an ambulance makes up about half the time of a 12-hour shift, Hadley said.

A graph of hours spent on calls shows dips when the county added crews. The number of hours spent on calls has increased steadily since 2008, when the county last added crews.

Public safety director Chad VonAhnen said the cost of adding two crews -- eight full-time workers -- and one ambulance next year would be $854,141.

VonAhnen also has requested $239,785 for six full-time workers who would relieve staff on vacation and out for other reasons. He said the number of relief emergency medical technicians -- six -- hasn't changed in 20 years. EMS staff has increased by 44 employees while the number of relief workers has stayed the same, Hadley said.

VonAhnen and Hadley also noted a troubling statistic: The county had 50 "super users" who made 1,335 calls to 911 in a one-year period. EMS has requested a community-based paramedic program, in which specially trained paramedics would work to bring together the appropriate resources to meet the needs of those callers. That program is estimated to cost $242,305.

County Manager William Buchanan will present his recommended budget to commissioners at their regular meeting at 9 a.m. July 10. Public hearings are scheduled for 9 a.m. July 17 and 31.

Commissioners are scheduled to vote on a budget at their Aug. 7 meeting, which starts at 9 a.m.

Reach Deb Gruver at 316-268-6400 or dgruver@wichitaeagle.com.

___

©2013 The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.)

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View the full article]]> Wed, 22 May 2013 10:18:18 +0000 f0fcf351df4eb6786e9bb6fc4e2dee02 http://www.emtcity.com/page/articles.html/_/articles/lessons-from-aurora-colo-shooting-lehigh-va-r881 They converged on the theater complex, set up a safety perimeter and began treating the wounded as they found them.

But soon a major snag in their preparedness plan was apparent -- since police were unsure of how many shooters were on the scene or if they had explosives, they set up a distant perimeter, beyond which ambulances could not pass. The walking wounded could get to the ambulances, but the most seriously injured could not.

It was then, Dr. Comilla Sasson told an audience of about 150 EMS personnel at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest on Monday, that police sought and received the order to throw out the rule book. Police piled wounded moviegoers into their squad cars and roared to the University of Colorado Hospital, where Sasson was one of two emergency doctors on the scene.

As the "organized chaos" of the night unfolded, there would be other times that protocol would have to be rejected in favor of expediency, Sasson said. That was one of the main messages of her presentation, given as part of the region's observation of EMS Week.

Train, prepare and set up protocols, she said. But rules may have to be broken.

"It was truly like what I think would happen in ... wartime," she said.

Because 20 of 23 shooting victims arrived in squad cars, the hospital had little information on their condition. Sasson played a recording from a police commander telling a dispatcher to "notify all the hospitals that we got people coming in," a nugget of useless information that prompted chuckles from the audience.

More unpredicted events occurred. As victims arrived, emergency department personnel created a "MASH unit" in the parking bay to transfer them to stretchers. Paramedics, technicians and housekeeping staff were pressed into duty to provide care beyond the norm as victims streamed into the ER, which Sasson said, usually saw one or two gunshot victims a week. High-caliber weapons caused damage that "was so profoundly different from what I was used to," Sasson added.

The hospital's electronic medical records system was not programmed to handle an unusual disaster, Sasson said. To work around it, doctors, taped instructions on paper to victims, she said. Making matters more complicated, many of the victims didn't carry identification or lost it in the chaos at the movie theater.

As the scope of the disaster became known, staff descended on the hospital and other hospitals in the area. They worked to identify all the victims and establish a unified, regional hotline so families could determine which hospital was caring for their loved ones, while observing federal patient privacy laws.

The good news, Sasson said, was that of the 58 victims who arrived alive at area hospitals, all survived the shooting.

In the aftermath, officials saw some things needed changing. The electronic records system was reprogrammed to allow for a disaster override, she said. Police and fire officials were directed to determine if they could find a better way to set up a secure perimeter so victims can get to ambulances.

Like the EMS crews in Colorado, Bethlehem paramedic Russ Hillegass said local teams regularly train for a variety of mass casualty incidents, including a session training last week at Dorney Park. The Easton Area School District announced Tuesday it will hold "active shooter" drills after school in coming days.

Still, Hillegass said, "I learned that as much as you train, there are always going to be things that you're not prepared for," he said.

Dr. Jeffrey M. Kuklinski, an LVH emergency department physician, said the hospital and other emergency responders have added equipment as well as training. For instance, a program called ServPa can electronically register emergency responders at disaster scenes so they can be accounted for.

Inter-hospital cooperation is improving, he added: "We've broken down some of those lines" between health care providers.

A system called Eastern Pennsylvania MedCom can link first responders to 17 hospitals in the region, said Everitt F. Binns, executive director of the Eastern Pennsylvania EMS Council. First responders can tag victims with a number or bar code so each patient can be tracked, he said.

Even with all their preparation, however, Sasson said personnel had a hard time coping with the stress of so much trauma. Many questioned whether they could continue to handle such devastation.

To ease the staff's shock, Sasson said she brought them to the patients' rooms to see the lives they saved.

tim.darragh@mcall.com

610 778-2259

___

©2013 The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.)

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View the full article]]> Wed, 22 May 2013 05:57:43 +0000 b4568df26077653eeadf29596708c94b http://www.emtcity.com/page/articles.html/_/articles/under-fire-ambulance-chief-leaving-his-post-fo-r882 Robert Morton is leaving his 100,000 post as director of the National Ambulance Service over the coming weeks.

It is understood he will take up a new position as head of the ambulance service in New South Wales in Australia.

Mr Morton was previously chief ambulance officer with the HSE in the midlands and was appointed director of the National Ambulance Service in February 2011.

He has had to deal with a number of controversies in office, most recently over the emergency service's response to a fatal accident in Cork when a toddler died two days after falling from a window in Midleton, Co Cork,  on May 6th. Former Cork hurling star Kevin Hennessy ended up driving the critically ill child to hospital in his own car. The little boy died two days later.

Sources within the ambulance service said it had been known for some time that Mr Morton was leaving the service to go to work in Australia.

© 2013 Irish Times. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

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View the full article]]> Wed, 22 May 2013 05:57:43 +0000 e1314fc026da60d837353d20aefaf054 http://www.emtcity.com/page/articles.html/_/articles/sedgwick-county-ems-seeks-new-crews-ambulance-r883 EMS projects a 3 percent increase in emergency calls and 1 percent in non-emergency calls each year.

Director Scott Hadley told commissioners on Tuesday that crews are working longer hours, which has led to emergency personnel becoming fatigued and taking more sick leave.

That concerns commissioners, who noted that tired emergency personnel could affect patient care.

"They have people's lives in their hands," Commission Chairman Jim Skelton said.

EMS handled 56,566 calls last year, including 50,764 emergencies and 5,802 considered not emergencies.

In 2004, total call volume was 41,821, records shared with commissioners showed. That had jumped to 54,242 total calls in 2011. More than 58,000 calls are projected for this year.

Not surprisingly, the number of hours worked on an ambulance is rising. Paramedics also have other duties, such as stocking ambulances, filling out paperwork and training, Hadley said.

In 2012, Sedgwick County EMS workers handled calls in an ambulance an average 5.4 hours of a 12-hour shift. The industry standard is an average 4.8 hours of a 12-hour shift, Hadley said. Inside the city limits of Wichita, the number of hours spent handling calls in an ambulance makes up about half the time of a 12-hour shift, Hadley said.

A graph of hours spent on calls shows dips when the county added crews. The number of hours spent on calls has increased steadily since 2008, when the county last added crews.

Public safety director Chad VonAhnen said the cost of adding two crews -- eight full-time workers -- and one ambulance next year would be $854,141.

VonAhnen also has requested $239,785 for six full-time workers who would relieve staff on vacation and out for other reasons. He said the number of relief emergency medical technicians -- six -- hasn't changed in 20 years. EMS staff has increased by 44 employees while the number of relief workers has stayed the same, Hadley said.

VonAhnen and Hadley also noted a troubling statistic: The county had 50 "super users" who made 1,335 calls to 911 in a one-year period. EMS has requested a community-based paramedic program at a cost of $242,305 that would handle such callers at a reduced cost to the county.

County Manager William Buchanan will present his recommended budget to commissioners at their regular meeting at 9 a.m. July 10. Public hearings are scheduled for 9 a.m. July 17 and 31.

Commissioners are scheduled to vote on a budget at their Aug. 7 meeting, which starts at 9 a.m.

Reach Deb Gruver at 316-268-6400 or dgruver@wichitaeagle.com.

___

©2013 The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.)

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View the full article]]> Wed, 22 May 2013 05:57:43 +0000 c45008212f7bdf6eab6050c2a564435a http://www.emtcity.com/page/articles.html/_/articles/commissioners-vote-to-add-ambulance-service-in-r880 If the Austin City Council signs off on the expansion Thursday, a new, part-time Austin-Travis County EMS station will be based in the fire station at FM 969 and Hunters Bend Road starting June 1.

The new station, including an ambulance and six personnel, will cost the county about $364,650 for the rest of this fiscal year and about $500,000 for the next.

Though commissioners only moved to fund the station part-time with ambulance service from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Danny Hobby, the county's emergency services executive, said the "next step" is to staff the station for full-time service.

Amid questions about how the city and county share EMS costs, commissioners delayed spending $3.2 million in January to expand ambulance service full-time there and in Bee Cave and Pflugerville.

On Tuesday, Hobby recommended commissioners continue to wait to staff those stations full-time, saying he wants to explore how the county can best utilize existing resources, and to talk to small cities in the area about chipping in for the costs of providing ambulance service.

"During the budget process we receive numerous requests that are not fully baked," County Judge Sam Biscoe said, explaining why he supported waiting to fund the stations for full-time service. "It's common for us to put the money in reserve, and when it's time for us to spend it, we will."

EMS Chief of Staff James Shamard thanked commissioners for moving to expand ambulance service in the county, but Tony Marquardt, president for the EMS union, said there is a need for more resources there.

"You can't schedule your emergency," he said.

___

©2013 Austin American-Statesman, Texas

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View the full article]]> Wed, 22 May 2013 03:09:11 +0000 3214a6d842cc69597f9edf26df552e43 http://www.emtcity.com/page/articles.html/_/articles/deaf-asked-to-give-views-on-ambulances-r877 East Midlands Ambulance Service (Emas) is holding an event at the Peepul Centre, in Orchardson Avenue, Leicester, on Thursday to gather ideas.

Representatives from the charity Action Deafness recently toured the Emas control room as part of the consultation.

Gulnaz Katchi, Emas community engagement officer, said: Their suggestions and views will be added to those we receive this week. This direct engagement helps us better understand the difficulties deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people have when they need to access the emergency services. Equally, we can talk about the challenges we face when we need to provide instructions to the caller.

Jaz Mann, Action Deafness manager, said: Hopefully, this event will give deaf people an important role in improving access.

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View the full article]]> Wed, 22 May 2013 02:06:12 +0000 f31b20466ae89669f9741e047487eb37 http://www.emtcity.com/page/articles.html/_/articles/dekalb-close-to-privatizing-ambulance-service-r878 County Commissioners are expected to approve a contract -- three years in the making and riddled with controversy -- for American Medical Response to provide countywide ambulance service.

Once done, that should free advanced-life support (ALS) paramedics now stationed on county-run ambulances to ride on fire engines at 24 of DeKalb's 26 fire stations.

That doubles the number of stations with the higher level of service -- at a price expected to save taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in personnel and maintenance costs.

AMR, meanwhile, will provide mostly basic life support transport with some ambulances outfitted for advanced care. Patients, not taxpayers, are expected to pay $8.5 million yearly in transport, mileage and other fees for those services.

"We are ready to go, because it will be a pretty significant amount of money saved and it will make us the premier first-response for advanced care countywide," said Fire Chief Edward O'Brien.

Commissioners first said they wanted to move to the private service model that has worked well in Cobb and Fulton counties in 2010. CEO Burrell Ellis responded by awarding an "emergency" yearlong contract to Rural/Metro Corp., to allow for time to research and solicit bids.

DeKalb has since extended that contract on a month-to-month basis, running 12 of its own ambulance service with 14 Rural/Metro ambulances. No taxpayer money funded the private ambulances, since the firm charged patients $750-$825 per trip.

Technical problems and rumors of cronyism, though, delayed the effort to outsource the service.

The first red flag appeared shortly after Ellis gave Rural/Metro the no-bid deal, when it was revealed his former campaign manager, Kevin Ross, represented the company.

At the time, Ellis said the choice was a coincidence. But Rural/Metro was one of six firms identified by name in search warrants served in January at the homes and offices of Ellis and Ross, looking for possible corruption. That investigation remains under a court seal.

That sped up the review process that put AMR as the top selection among four bidders, including Rural/Metro.

Rural/Metro responded by filing a complaint with a state regional EMS Council, asking it to take over the selection because DeKalb's request was unreasonable. Among its complaints were the county's requirement for the winning firm to pay $620,000 a year to reimburse taxpayers for dispatching service and to spend about $1.4 million for new heart monitors on county firetrucks.

Rural/Metro withdrew that complaint just before this month's council meeting. Members of the council, run by the state Department of Public Health, voted only to monitor DeKalb's privatization effort.

That cleared the way for the commission to review the recommended contract and better understand projected savings.

Already, the fire department has shed 200 positions -- down to about 620 full-time firefighters -- as part of outsourcing, O'Brien said.

The department expects to save about $80,000 every month on diesel fuel costs alone when it no longer runs the ambulances. Still uncertain is how much the county -- and taxpayers -- will save from no longer having to buy and maintain ambulances or how much it will be able to cut spending on medical and equipment supplies that the vendor will provide. Early estimates call for saving at least $30,000 monthly in those expenses.

"We can't see our way clear yet to how this is going to be because it's been such a confusing process," said Commissioner Elaine Boyer, who pushed for the privatization effort. "But I think once we get through this confusion, we'll see it as a very positive result for everyone."

AMR has told the county it can have 18 ambulances running within 30 days of contract approval. It will eventually run 26-28 ambulances to meet the requirement of responding to 90 percent of calls within nine minutes. Commissioners expect to vote on the contract later this summer.

___

©2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Ga.)

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View the full article]]> Wed, 22 May 2013 02:06:12 +0000 dc5d637ed5e62c36ecb73b654b05ba2a http://www.emtcity.com/page/articles.html/_/articles/air-ambulance-called-to-match-r879 The player, believed to be aged about 40, was playing for the Langtons Seconds against Grace Dieu Park at East Langton on Saturday.

Langtons secretary Mark Ward said: The player was fielding and he twisted his leg and broke his ankle in three places.

The air ambulance flew here and a road ambulance also came and he was taken to Kettering General Hospital by road ambulance.

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View the full article]]> Wed, 22 May 2013 02:06:12 +0000 44a2e0804995faf8d2e3b084a1e2db1d http://www.emtcity.com/page/articles.html/_/articles/brief-ems-one-dead-after-apparent-constructio-r875 Warren Hassinger, a spokesman for the agency, said the man, who appears to have been in his 40s, suffered grave injuries after the machinery rolled over on him.

The incident happened at a construction site about a quarter mile off the highway, Hassinger said.

This is the second death this month that officials have said involved construction equipment rolling over on someone.

A 37-year-old man was killed at a construction site in Northwest Austin on May 9 after a trencher rolled down a slope and on top of him, police said.

The incident happened on the 6300 block of West Courtyard Drive near Capital of Texas Highway (Loop 360).

___

©2013 Austin American-Statesman, Texas

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View the full article]]> Tue, 21 May 2013 22:21:53 +0000 7e9e346dc5fd268b49bf418523af8679 http://www.emtcity.com/page/articles.html/_/articles/brief-ambulance-manufacturer-closing-in-elkhart-r876 According to the notice, about 165 workers will be terminated at the company's facility at 25161 Leer Drive.

The company is an ambulance manufacturer that Thor Industries sold May 6 to Allied Specialty Vehicles. ASV confirmed the site will close.

The closing does not affect Goshen Coach Inc. bus manufacturing or its employees.

For more on this story, read Wednesday's edition of the South Bend Tribune.

___

©2013 the South Bend Tribune (South Bend, Ind.)

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View the full article]]> Tue, 21 May 2013 22:21:53 +0000 ba9a56ce0a9bfa26e8ed9e10b2cc8f46 http://www.emtcity.com/page/articles.html/_/articles/ems-providers-recognized-for-their-commitment-r874 Just minutes later on Nov. 10, 2012, the two Lackawanna Ambulance paramedics managed to bring back a faint heartbeat in the 18-month-old Dunmore boy, who was unconscious after falling into the drain and submerged in about 2 feet of 47-degree water.

On Monday, the two Scranton men received the 2013 award for acts of heroism at Geisinger's 10th annual Emergency Medical Service Provider of the Year Award ceremony at Colarusso's LaPalazzo in Moosic.

"They saved that child's life," said David Schoenwetter, D.O., medical director of Geisinger EMS.

Geisinger officials thanked the dozens of EMS providers in attendance for their dedication, selflessness and ability to provide lifesaving services during emergencies.

They also named Richard Bartholomew, a paramedic with Franklin-Northmoreland EMS, the 2013 James "Sox" Ruane Award for Community Service. Mr. Bartholomew did not attend.

"The whole process of patient care starts with them, and they are out there 24/7 -- even in ice and snow storms," said Jack Lasky, the EMS program coordinator at Geisinger Wyoming Valley.

Though both Mr. Catalano and Mr. Rutkowski have responded to hundreds of emergencies, they said they will never forget performing CPR on the child -- and feeling that faint heartbeat -- while a Dunmore firefighter drove the ambulance to Geisinger Community Medical Center.

"The most nerve-racking part was waiting for the rescue team to pry open the drain," Mr. Rutkowski said. "We couldn't have done it without the firefighters and police."

Contact the writer: miorfino@timesshamrock.com, @miorfinoTT on Twitter

___

©2013 The Times-Tribune (Scranton, Pa.)

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View the full article]]> Tue, 21 May 2013 19:34:10 +0000 958adb57686c2fdec5796398de5f317a http://www.emtcity.com/page/articles.html/_/articles/bike-outrage-exclusive-racks-block-em-r872 A Greenwich Village co-op board that has sued the city for blocking its entrance with bike-share racks nearly saw its worst fears realized yesterday when emergency responders had trouble getting to a 92-year-old resident in distress.  

An EMS crew encountered difficulties getting the sick man from the entrance of The Cambridge at 175 W. 13th St., around 60 feet of bike racks and to the ambulance.  

"I would like these bike racks to get out of the way," the victim's wife, Lee Liss, told The Post. "The ambulance couldn't get to him. These bike racks are a detriment."  

Edward Liss, a retired physician who lives on the 20th floor, suffered an undisclosed medical emergency, according to authorities, and his family called for help around 2:30 p.m. yesterday.  

"It's exactly what this building feared would happen," said Steven Shore, the building's attorney, who filed a lawsuit over the bike racks last week. "The good news is the guy's not dead."  

Parking spots for 39 bicycles create a barricade that runs the length of the 20-story co-op. The ambulance was forced to park three doors down along West 13th Street for the emergency call, the co-op board's vice president, Dave Marcus, told The Post.  

It took EMS workers more than an hour before Liss was taken to Beth Israel Hospital.  

"With great difficulty they managed to get the guy out," said Marcus. He called the kiosk, which was installed in the dead of night last month, an "impregnable wall."  

"The ambulance was forced to pull in at the eastern-most portion of the bike rack, where they had a clear shot to the sidewalk," Marcus added.  

Liss was recovering at Beth Israel yesterday.  

The Cambridge residents sued the city last Monday claiming the Department of Transportation put the rack on the wrong side of the street and then changed its maps to make the mistake look like part of the plan.  

John Dewitt Gregory, 82, a longtime resident who uses a walker, said the obtrusive stations have made his daily life so difficult he's considering moving out.  

"It's very difficult to navigate when I come outside the building," Gregory griped. "I can't get the walker through these stands because they're just too narrow. Going and coming back has become a real pain."  

A Department of Transportation spokesman maintained that the EMTs had no trouble responding to the call. The FDNY did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  

julia.marsh@nypost.com

Originally published by Julia Marsh and Amber Sutherland.

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View the full article]]> Tue, 21 May 2013 18:30:44 +0000 2f25f6e326adb93c5787175dda209ab6 http://www.emtcity.com/page/articles.html/_/articles/amr-secures-shelby-county-ambulance-contract-r873 The county will save $2.4 million over the life of the contract, said Kim Hackney, county deputy CAO.

The vote followed more than an hour of debate and information-gathering and included allegations from Rural/Metro, the county's provider for 15 years, that the request-for-proposal process was unfair.

The county's original request for proposals was issued in October 2012 and included Germantown and Collierville. It was modified when Germantown officials decided to manage ambulance services for residents there.

However, after the RFPs had been returned, officials in Collierville also decided their town would be responsible for its ambulance service.

Rural/Metro was not given an opportunity to bid on the revised contract without Collierville, said Glenn Miller, division general manager.

"And it's a game-changer without Collierville," Miller said.

It is a demand-based contract that requires ambulances to have a 9-minute response time in the municipalities and a 10 1/2 -minute response time in unincorporated areas.

County officials said there was an $825,000 difference in AMR's proposal and Rural/Metro's, making the need to reissue the RFP unnecessary.

That's a lot of money, said Commissioner Heidi Shafer.

"Just looking at this, especially in this tight, tight, tight economy, $800,000 would buy an awful lot of school books," Shafer said. "We're scrapping over $30,000 here and there to try to come up with money. An $800,000 swing is huge for us."

However, the allegations of unfairness resonated with some commissioners, including Commissioner Justin Ford, who said there was no way he'd be "able to vote on an issue when people are accusing the county of not having a fair process."

Commissioner Terry Roland wanted information about fees for the individuals who actually use the ambulances.

Those fees were another component that made AMR's proposal more cost effective, said Tom Needham, county director of public works.

Ted Van Horne, AMR CEO, told commissioners that the company was investing $2.5 million in ambulances that would be bought in Shelby County.

Voting no were commissioners Walter Bailey, Henri Brooks, Melvin Burgess and Ford.

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©2013 The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tenn.)

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View the full article]]> Tue, 21 May 2013 18:30:44 +0000 d4b2aeb2453bdadaa45cbe9882ffefcf http://www.emtcity.com/page/articles.html/_/articles/marysville-fire-police-ems-prep-for-big-dig-r871 Fire engines, ambulances and law enforcement vehicles will have to closely monitor traffic flows in responding to any emergencies that might occur in or around construction.

But emergency response officials said they don't believe the roadwork planned to start the first week of June will slow down response times.

"We don't have concerns that it is going to impede our ability to respond to calls," said Mike Carr, battalion chief for CalFire-Marysville. "All of the routes have been reviewed.

"As always with emergency vehicles within construction, there are provisions they build into their plans to allow emergency vehicles through," Carr said.

Motorists will be facing a changing series of detours as contractor Teichert Construction of Sacramento works through 13 stages of the project during the next two construction seasons. Work is expected to be completed in late 2014 or early 2015 on much of highways 70 and 20 in Marysville.

Construction is planned to start the week of June 3, but Caltrans spokeswoman Deanna Shoopman said Monday the exact startup day has yet to be determined.

The initial stage -- planned to be completed in 34 days -- will be on the westbound side of Highway 70 in the vicinity of 10th and E streets. Eastbound traffic will be diverted to side streets during the 24-hour, seven-days-a-week project. Bi-County Ambulance officials were not available Monday to discuss planning for responses within the construction zone. But Shoopman said Caltrans has been working with all emergency responders to make sure calls are not slowed.

Carr said fire vehicles tend to avoid using main streets -- such as E Street -- when possible in responding to emergencies. He said the department has preplanned routes it uses to avoid as much traffic as possible.

"We will be preplanning as we follow the stages of construction," Carr said. "We are going to look at all of the detour routes and will know those affected by heavier traffic."

Even when construction occurs on Ninth Street from E to B streets -- about a half-block from the city fire station at the east end of Ninth -- Carr said there are alternative routes for engines.

"It might be more difficult," Carr said. "We might have to do some navigating. But as far as meeting our response times, I don't see that we won't be able to meet our response time of less than five minutes."

Marysville police Staff Sgt. Chris Sachs said meetings have been held involving Caltrans, Bi-County Ambulance, police and fire departments and Rideout Memorial Hospital to plan emergency responses.

"We have our alternate routes we are looking at," Sachs said. "I think we are good to go."

Carr said motorists can also help emergency responders by following state law to pull over to the right and stop for approaching emergency vehicles with flashing lights and sirens.

CONTACT Eric Vodden at evodden@appealdemocrat.com or 749-4769.

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©2013 the Appeal-Democrat (Marysville, Calif.)

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View the full article]]> Tue, 21 May 2013 15:54:10 +0000 fb8feff253bb6c834deb61ec76baa893 http://www.emtcity.com/page/articles.html/_/articles/ems-memorial-bike-ride-wraps-up-in-bristol-r869 Ride organizer and first-time rider Bryan Kimberlin said the nearly 200 miles of the route -- stretching from Paintsville, Ky., to Bristol -- is done to remember those emergency workers of local and national fire and rescue units, bring awareness to the safety these EMS workers need while performing their duties and to promote healthy habits to those in the profession.

"There are 69 names that we are riding for this year," Kimberlin said shortly after the team pulled into Bristol just after 4 p.m. Monday. "They are emergency workers who lost their lives in work-related accidents, aviation accidents, people having heart attacks while on shift and people who worked in the profes-sion who were taken away from things like cancer. Another one of those is a worker who fell ill and died after being exposed to items while working at Ground Zero during the 2011 terrorist attacks in New York.

"We also try to promote being healthy and eating right to our EMS family while on this route. Our schedules in this business are crazy and we eat a lot of fast food, so we try to use this to recruit others to start new things in their lives, like bike riding, to make themselves better. We also get out there to ride for our fellow workers here in Tennessee and Virginia, some of whom were killed while on duty or on their way to work."

Two of those were killed in 2009 -- Earl Morphew, 48, a firefighter with Chilhowie and Bristol, Va., fire departments who was killed by a drunk driver during a head-on crash, and Sabrina Carrier, a Sullivan County paramedic who died on her way to work after a crash in Bristol, Tenn.

The ride concluded at the Southwest Virginia EMS Council offices in Bristol, Va., where the 69 names were read and a bell tolled in their honor during a solemn ceremony.

Another national ride is taking place this week with a team riding from Maine to Pennsylvania.

kcastle@bristolnews.com

276-645-2531

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©2013 the Bristol Herald Courier (Bristol, Va.)

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View the full article]]> Tue, 21 May 2013 14:52:30 +0000 68c694de94e6c110f42e587e8e48d852 http://www.emtcity.com/page/articles.html/_/articles/austin-colony-could-get-ambulance-service-added-r870 The vote to put a new station in Austin Colony would be the first since January when commissioners put the brakes on a $3.2 million plan that would in part expand services there and in Bee Cave and Pflugerville while city and county officials revised how they share the costs of providing ambulance service.

Now, Travis County Emergency Services Executive Danny Hobby is recommending commissioners fund a part-time station in Austin Colony: one ambulance and six positions to be based out of the fire station at FM 969 and Hunters Bend Road. Hobby said the part-time ambulance station will cost about $364,650 for the rest of this fiscal year, and about $500,000 for the next. The ambulance would be in service from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day starting June 1.

Hobby is advising that commissioners wait to staff that station and the stations in Pflugerville and Bee Cave full-time while officials continue to explore what kinds of resources are needed where in the county. Hobby is also suggesting commissioners wait while he talks to small cities in the county about possibly sharing EMS expenses.

Still, he said, services are going to be expanded to those areas. It's just a matter of how and when. "I want to make sure when I add resources that ... it really benefits our residents," he said.

Austin-Travis County EMS Director Ernie Rodriguez said he's glad the county is moving to add part-time service in Austin Colony, but he said it's not enough. "How are we going to continue to provide great service in the city and in the county when we're not being given the resources that we need?" he said.

The county has outpaced the city's population growth, it but hasn't appropriately added ambulances to account for it, Rodriguez said. He said he's also concerned by the number of calls for service in the county that are being responded to by ambulances dedicated to the city.

Though both Rodriguez and Hobby said they've maintained a good relationship while working through their differences, the Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services Association has emerged as a harsher critic of some of the county's decisions.

In a statement released last week, the union called Hobby's proposal to fund part-time ambulance service in Austin Colony "narrow and inadequate," saying he has withheld funding for critical EMS resources for the past seven months.

"Presently, we are responding to almost half of the calls in the county with units that have been allocated by the city council for the city of Austin while county government continues to keep taxpayer money in a lockbox," association President Tony Marquardt said in the statement.

According to EMS data provided by the county, city ambulances responded to about 45 percent of calls for service in the county in fiscal 2012, and county ambulances responded to about 3 percent of the calls for service in the city.

However, about 7 percent of all city ambulance responses were to calls in the county, while the responses to calls in the city represented about 27 percent of county ambulance calls.

Some county ambulances get little use at all. The ambulance service based out of the Pedernales Fire Department, for example, responded to 445 calls in fiscal 2012, including 35 calls in the city, according to EMS data.

As the county considers how to increase emergency medical services to its residents, Hobby said he and other officials are discussing whether the county needs to better utilize existing resources, or put paramedics on fire trucks as first responders.

Officials have also broken the county into four zones to look at what response is the most appropriate depending on the geography and accessibility of the area.

"What you're doing is looking at population, density, roadways, and you're looking at more than just simply saying, 'I want to add this, I want to add that,'" Hobby said. "Add what fits."

For city officials, what fits is more ambulances. Rodriguez said they're the most effective and reliable way to respond to a call in the Pedernales area, for example. Even with a low call volume, he said, its the agency's responsibility to park it there for when a resident does need it.

"We've thought about what would happen if we didn't have an ambulance there, and then respond with a helicopter," he said. "That's fine until you have bad weather, and that's fine as long as you have a place to land. ...Ground service is the most reliable and effective solution, and we are going to need to expand ground service."

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©2013 Austin American-Statesman, Texas

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View the full article]]> Tue, 21 May 2013 14:52:30 +0000 d305281faf947ca7acade9ad5c8c818c http://www.emtcity.com/page/articles.html/_/articles/teen-thanks-paramedics-who-treated-him-after-gr-r868 Caide recalled the accident -- in detail.

"My friend bumped into the back of my bike tire, and I fell," Caide said. "He flipped over me, and that's when the right brake handle went into the right side of my stomach, and then my intestines came out."

Caide's mother, Jeanelle Martin, said she heard the sirens from the porch of their home about two blocks away from the intersection of Maple Grove and Electric avenues in Lackawanna.

"I never thought it was Caide," she said. "But then my neighbor came running. His face was white, and I knew something was wrong. I ran with no shoes on, got to the scene and basically collapsed."

First responders from the City of Lackawanna Fire Division and Rural/Metro treated Caide on the scene for a six-inch tear across his abdomen. They soaked a bandage in saline and covered his wound to try to keep his intenstines in place. Then they rushed him in an ambulance to Women & Children's Hospital.

The seventh-grader ended up staying in Children's intensive care unit for one month and underwent two surgeries, his mother said. His recovery continued at home under the supervision of home care nurses while he was being home-schooled. Caide also was nurtured by Honey, his pet Samoyed.

Today Caide is back on a new Mongoose bike, but it wasn't easy. During the past year he lost 30 pounds.

"Basically he was healing from the inside out," Martin recalled. She also noted that her son is now considering a career in emergency medicine.

Caide received emergency treatment from Rural/Metro field supervisor Jason Rutecki, paramedic Nicholas Akromas and emergency medical technician Carlina Barbero, who were among those honored Monday by Rural/Metro.

The ceremony was held in conjunction with National Emergency Medical Services Week. It also coincided with the opening of Rural/Metro's training facility/education center on Clinton Street, where EMT Academy will launch eight-week sessions this fall, according to Sharon Hughes, the lead instructor. "EMT Academy is usually a longer course," she said. "This is an intensive full-time session that offers hands-on experience in the ambulance as well the emergency room."

In addition to EMT Academy, the center will offer instruction in CPR and International Trauma Life Support, a two-day standardized course taught worldwide.

email: jkwiatkowski@buffnews.com

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©2013 The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.)

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View the full article]]> Tue, 21 May 2013 12:04:30 +0000 c164bbc9d6c72a52c599bbb43d8db8e1