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Ambo. Never Shows Up for Infant CPR

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The FastCar Arrived 90 Minutes After Mom Self Transported

A YOUNG COUPLE IN BRISTOL, ENGLAND, DID EVERYTHING right last week when their 2-week-old infant stopped breathing.  Unfortunately, they were the only ones who got it right after they phoned for an ambulance.  Luckily, the mother, Marie Fricker had first-aid and CPR training so she could begin infant CPR on her baby while waiting for the ambulance.  The ambulance that never showed up.

Baby Oliver and his parents

The Weston Mercury tells the tale:

Marie, who also has three other children, said: "I first noticed there was something wrong when I went to lift him and I knew something wasn’t right by his colour and how limp he was.  "I thought ‘something’s wrong’ and my nine-year-old asked me if he was dead. I tried to rouse him and he felt cold, so I moved away from the other children into the other room.

"He wasn’t breathing so I started to massage his chest and dialled 999 and was told ‘be assured, help is on its way’. They had to take another call and Oliver started to become a bit more alert and was making noises.  After 10 minutes there was no sign of an ambulance and I was trying to control myself. I dialled 999 again and spoke to someone different who also told me help was on its way. I told them I still needed help.

"A nurse then called me and she told me the ambulance service was very busy that night. I didn’t want to hear that when I had almost lost my baby. So we decided to take him to the children’s hospital ourselves.  Not far from there he stopped breathing again. I started massaging his chest but he was so limp. He was blue and lifeless. It was absolutely horrendous and something went incredibly wrong with the ambulance service."

Oliver stopped breathing again moments from reaching doctors and 37-year-old Marie was unable to bring him round a second time. On reaching the hospital medical experts [sic] managed to resuscitate him.

About 90 minutes after her initial call, a fastcar paramedic showed up, but they were long gone by then.  The Great Western Ambulance Service unit never did arrive.

Read the full STORY HERE.

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Posted by on December 24, 2012 • Filed under: ambulances, EMS Dispatch, EMS Topics • Tagged:

“Radio Silence” an unfortunate example of fire mangled deployment

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A continuing decline of ambulance service

I was attending a federally-sponsored EMS stakeholder's meeting in DC months after the Kansas City Fire Department took over 9-1-1 ambulance service from the Municipal Ambulance Services Trust (MAST) in late 2010.

MAST was one of the first public utility models. During their thirty year history they became recognized as a credentialed, accredited, best practice, high performance ems system.

An executive director with one of the organizations that provides accreditation or credential talked about the takeover at the federal meeting. She complained of "radio silence" from fire department leadership since the takeover.

Maybe the fire department was impementing a better way.

Unacceptable

This morning's editorial in The Kansas City Star does not think so:

Response times are worse in 2012 than they have been at any time since the Fire Department took over the ambulances in early 2010. And even in 2010 and 2011 response times had not often enough met the nine-minute citywide standard established by the City Council.

The audit also said the Fire Department has failed this entire year to report response times within council districts. Instead, only citywide numbers are provided. Residents in the districts don’t have adequate information to judge whether they are being well served by the Fire Department. That’s unacceptable.

New questions about KC ambulance services
Earlier KC articles:
Smoky Dyer retires from Kansas City (2012)
Kansas City fails to meet ambulance response times  (2011)
The Neon Red Elephant of EMS  (2009).
Related item:
Fire Mangled Ambulance Deployment  (last week)

Mike "FossilMedic" Ward

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/10/24/3883736/the-stars-editorial-new-questions.html#storylink=cpyMike "FossilMedic" Ward
Posted by on October 25, 2012 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, EMS Dispatch, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, News, Urban Commander • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Gas Fumes Dump Detroit Dispatch Center

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Found to Have Come From an Outside Source

THE DETROIT, MICHIGAN, EMERGENCY DISPATCH CENTER was evacuated just before noon today as the building was filling up with "natural gas" fumes.  The employees inside where the city's police, fire, and EMS dispatchers and call-takers work, suddenly began feeling nauseous and light-headed.

WDIV-TV

Fire, EMS, and utility crews were dispatched to the scene and within a half-hour they had traced the source back to a nearby electric substation.  They have not yet disclosed what was generating the fumes, but a favorable wind was directing them to the roof of the dispatch center where the intake for the air-handling system was picking them up and sending the fumes throughout the building.

Dispatch operations were interrupted for about ten minutes before being rerouted to another site in the east side of the city where the 3-1-1 calls are handled.  At the time of this post the employees were still not allowed back inside while it is being aired out.

WXYZ-TV has MORE plus this video report:

 

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Posted by on October 9, 2012 • Filed under: dispatch, Dispatch & Communications, Emergency Communications, EMS Dispatch, Videos • Tagged: ,

500 first responder runs a day

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GPS smartphone app + ambucycles = immediate response

Among the high-minded discusion and topless protest at the World Economic Forum in Davos was a presentation by Eli Beer, Chief Coordinator of United Hatzalah (Rescue).

Creating a Network of Heros describes the process of empowering 1,700 volunteers in Israel to immediately respond to a life-threatening medical emergency.

United Hatzalah's ambucycles are a solution when ambulances that needs to arrive quickly to save lives are unable to travel through congested traffic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The volunteers have an ambucycle with AED and first aid kit. They have a GPS application in their smart phone that displays the location of the emergency

From their website:

United Hatzalah of Israel is an independent non-profit fully volunteer Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Organization that assists in responding to medical emergencies throughout Israel.

The primary role of United Hatzalah volunteers – trained and certified as EMTs, Paramedics and MD’s – is to provide an immediate response within 2-4 minutes from the onset of an incident: establishing a life-saving bridge of medical care; transmitting vital information to control centers and once the local ambulance service arrives, working alongside its crew to enable a swift transfer to hospital. United Hatzalah's education department is an innovative leader in the fields of public health, safety and accident prevention training.

Mike "FossilMedic" Ward

Posted by on February 1, 2012 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, EMS Dispatch, EMS Topics, News, Technology & Communications, Urban Commander, Videos • Tagged: , , , , ,