Corydon, May 7, 2011: In recognition of the high-level, pre-hospital emergency medical care provided by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) professionals, May 15-21, 2011, is designated as National Emergency Medical Services Week. This is a time to honor and recognize the men and women of EMS who proudly serve on the frontline in our communities every day. They provide critical, often lifesaving services that dramatically increase the chance of survival and full recovery.
We are fortunate to have an exceptional EMS system in Wayne County. This includes all the volunteer first responders in the communities of Allerton, Corydon, Humeston, Lineville, and Seymour, members of the Wayne County Ambulance, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, the Wayne County Hospital emergency room physicians and nurses, 911 dispatchers, and local law enforcement.
EMS is a fairly new field of medicine when compared to Physicians and Nurses. Although some ambulances existed in the late 1800’s in larger cities such as New York, modern EMS didn’t start until about the 1960’s.
Today, EMS has evolved into a “mobile emergency room”. EMS personnel are trained to recognize and treat serious medical and traumatic injuries at the scene and while en route to the hospital. They are able to do certain advanced skills that were once reserved for physicians. The advanced level EMS providers are able to give medications to treat, reverse, and limit the effects of many medical problems such as heart attack, breathing concerns, and diabetic related problems among many others. They are also able to perform advanced airways procedures in the event someone stops breathing and can shock a heart that is no longer beating.
“The Wayne County Ambulance is a 24/7 advanced level ambulance service. Our ambulance service is focused on providing enhanced patient care. The purchase of new cardiac monitors permit us to accurately identify heart attacks pre-hospital and we have adopted Mercy’s treatment protocol which provides specific direction in treating and transporting a patient with an acute heart attack. Our new ventilator is capable of breathing for a patient who is unable to breathe for themselves. The purchase of a new ambulance has provided reliability of service, greater efficiencies for EMS staff and improved comfort for patients. Those improvements, along with an emphasis on continuing education classes to enhance our skills and maintain optimum standards of treatment allow us to deliver quality care to our patients at the scene of an accident or during a transport,” commented Cody Babbitt, RN, EMT Ambulance Director.