Listen out for the new EMS vehicles on Raleigh/Wake Locution Dispatch 156.225Mhz under the callsigns:
MEDIC 91
MEDIC 92
MEDIC 93
MEDIC 94
MEDIC 95
MEDIC 96
Marshall KE4ZNR
muscle cars to reach emergencies faster
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By Michael Biesecker, Staff Writer Comment on this story
Wake’s Emergency Medical Services Department launched a new program today to bolster its fleet of ambulances with 14 specially trained paramedics deployed in souped-up Dodge Chargers.EMS Chief Skip Kirkwood said the program is the first of its kind in the nation.
The new Advanced Practice Paramedics will be dispatched to help treat the most acute patients and prevent emergencies in high-risk patient populations such as the elderly.
The new muscle cars offer the combination of speed and trunk space needed for the paramedics to respond quickly to emergencies, potentially stabilizing patients until an ambulance can arrive.
They also get far better gas mileage than ambulances, officials said.
County commissioners approved $1.5 million in new spending for the pilot program over the next year.
The added paramedics are to work staggered shifts to provide at least five additional staff members across Wake County through the busiest parts of the day. Two more will be on-duty to supplement existing EMS staffing at night.
The goal is to ensure that at least one additional, experienced paramedic is assigned to each high-risk EMS call, which often requires multiple paramedics to perform time-sensitive procedures in a short period of time.
In the past, dispatchers sometimes used two ambulances to provide the necessary number of paramedics. The new program will allow many of those patients to be treated while allowing the second ambulance to remain in service.
“We have a shortage of paramedics, both nationally and in the state of North Carolina,” said Dr. Brent Myers, Wake County’s EMS director. “This program allows us to make more efficient use of the paramedics that we do have, not only by getting the paramedics where we need them the most, but also by investing their time in prevention with the most acute patient populations that we see."
The paramedics will also evaluate, educate and provide preventive care for senior citizens at high-risk for falls and with a history of substance abuse. By improving the health and well-being of these patients, it is hoped many medical emergencies will be prevented, officials said.
Those in the new program will also seek destinations other than overcrowded emergency rooms for patients that would be better served somewhere else, such as a substance abuse treatment center or mental health facility, freeing up ambulances to make other calls.
MEDIC 91
MEDIC 92
MEDIC 93
MEDIC 94
MEDIC 95
MEDIC 96
Marshall KE4ZNR
muscle cars to reach emergencies faster
LINK
By Michael Biesecker, Staff Writer Comment on this story
Wake’s Emergency Medical Services Department launched a new program today to bolster its fleet of ambulances with 14 specially trained paramedics deployed in souped-up Dodge Chargers.EMS Chief Skip Kirkwood said the program is the first of its kind in the nation.
The new Advanced Practice Paramedics will be dispatched to help treat the most acute patients and prevent emergencies in high-risk patient populations such as the elderly.
The new muscle cars offer the combination of speed and trunk space needed for the paramedics to respond quickly to emergencies, potentially stabilizing patients until an ambulance can arrive.
They also get far better gas mileage than ambulances, officials said.
County commissioners approved $1.5 million in new spending for the pilot program over the next year.
The added paramedics are to work staggered shifts to provide at least five additional staff members across Wake County through the busiest parts of the day. Two more will be on-duty to supplement existing EMS staffing at night.
The goal is to ensure that at least one additional, experienced paramedic is assigned to each high-risk EMS call, which often requires multiple paramedics to perform time-sensitive procedures in a short period of time.
In the past, dispatchers sometimes used two ambulances to provide the necessary number of paramedics. The new program will allow many of those patients to be treated while allowing the second ambulance to remain in service.
“We have a shortage of paramedics, both nationally and in the state of North Carolina,” said Dr. Brent Myers, Wake County’s EMS director. “This program allows us to make more efficient use of the paramedics that we do have, not only by getting the paramedics where we need them the most, but also by investing their time in prevention with the most acute patient populations that we see."
The paramedics will also evaluate, educate and provide preventive care for senior citizens at high-risk for falls and with a history of substance abuse. By improving the health and well-being of these patients, it is hoped many medical emergencies will be prevented, officials said.
Those in the new program will also seek destinations other than overcrowded emergency rooms for patients that would be better served somewhere else, such as a substance abuse treatment center or mental health facility, freeing up ambulances to make other calls.