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This Week in EMS: Fallen EMS Heroes Remembered
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The 2009 National EMS Memorial Service took place last Saturday, and was the final ever to be held in Roanoke, Va., home of the first rescue squad in the world. Family, friends and colleagues came to honor 89 fallen heroes who died in the line of duty, either in the previous year or before and had yet to be included in the service.
In the future, the annual event is to be held in Colorado Springs, Co. where a permanent memorial area will be built. See the related article links for further coverage.
California EMT/SAR Volunteer Remembered after Crash Death
In further line of duty death news, 24-year-old responder Christopher Meadows died Sunday while responding as a SAR volunteer to an injured woman in a California state park. He was also an EMT for San Luis Ambulance and was applying to become a paramedic.
Meadows crashed the ATV he was driving, and was then struck by an ambulance trailing him to the scene. Investigators announced Thursday that it was the initial impact from his ATV crash that killed him.
EMS Tech News:
Dubai Unveils Longest Ambulance in the World
The Dubai (U.A.E.) Ambulance Center has unveiled the world's longest ambulance, a vehicle/mobile hospital 59 feet long with the capacity to handle 44 patients.
The vehicle, commissioned after a series of mass casualty incidents, reportedly features a helicopter landing pad on its roof, internet and satellite facilities, operating rooms, an intensive care unit, a radiography room and an integrated pharmacy. It is expected to begin operations in three months.
Triage Technology to Capture Vital Signs from a Distance
Star Trek fans may recognize this device, currently in development, for its resemblance to the fictional medical diagnostic tool known as the tricorder.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the Standoff Patient Triage Tool (SPTT), will allow responders to take key physiological readings --pulse, body temperature, and respiration --from up to 40 feet away. The purpose is to increase the speed, accuracy and safety of triage. Prototypes may be released to medical teams as early as this fall for field testing.
Featured Podcast:
EMT Tom Reynolds of the UCLA campus ambulance service talks about "listening to your gut" when making decisions about patient care, and recalls the first time he was able to make a decision that created a better outcome.
Featured Job:
EMT-Intermediate and EMT-Paramedic - Towson, Maryland
"We are a company who accommodates our employees to the best of our ability! ...Please call us if you are interested in working for a growing company that values ethical and knowledgeable providers, and above all TEAMWORK!"
Click above for details and visit www.EMSResponder.com/jobs for additional listings.
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Featured Forum Thread:
"We all get those nerve wrecking calls and we all have our ways to deal with them afterwards. What do you do while you are responding to the call, where the call notes make it seem like doomsday? "
Follow the link to read more, or browse other topics at www.emsresponder.com/forums.
Poll Question:
What do you think of the concept of a 44 patient capacity ambulance, as unveiled in Dubai?
Reminders:
SafetyCare Accepting Nominations to Honor Extraordinary EMT with Annual Award
SafetyCare, a national leader in Personal Emergency Response Systems, is seeking nominees for the third-annual Jack and Rosemary Gulati SafetyCare Awards. Deadline for nominations is July 31.
EMS EXPO Announces Photo Contest for 2009
For the second year, EMS EXPO is looking for photos of EMS/rescue/fire professionals in the field, at training events or in the workplace. Photos must be received by September 18, 2009
Other top headlines this week on EMSResponder.com:
- Scuffle Between Oklahoma Troopers, Medic Caught on Tape
- Dust-Up Between Oklahoma Trooper, Paramedics Investigated
- Stroke Group Expands Time for Clot-Busting Drugs
- $2M for Kin of Woman Who Died on NY Hospital Floor
- Georgia Gunshot Wound Patient Flees Ambulance
- WHO Adds Deadliness to Flu Pandemic Threshold
About Heather Caspi, EMSResponder.com Editor-in-Chief
Heather Caspi has been a public safety journalist since 2000, beginning as a reporter for sister site Firehouse.com. She later became the assistant news editor for Firehouse.com and Officer.com, and led the launch of EMSResponder.com in 2005. She graduated from the University of Maryland with degrees in Journalism and English Language and Literature, and earned her EMT-B at Merritt College in Oakland, California. She can be reached at Heather.Caspi@cygnusb2b.com.
