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Dr. Timothy Page - Medical Director Steven Buda - EMS Director
WHY CALL 911 IN THE EVENT OF A MEDICAL EMERGENCY? Everyone experiences medical emergencies throughout life. Many of them are minor and are taken care of with a loving hand, some common sense, and perhaps over the counter remedies. But what about the situations that cause a certain degree of uncertainty? What about those obvious times where a higher level of care is required? Do you call your doctor? Perhaps call the emergency department? Do you drive to the emergency department? When you think any of these circumstances, there is one simple resolution… CALL 911!!! Any living organism, to function properly and sustain life must have oxygen. Disruption of proper oxygenation will lead to reduced functionality and if not corrected, eventually death. The human body is very complex. Oxygenation occurs at many different levels with in your body. Many of which are unique to our overall physical and mental well being. The two most important and most commonly known are the oxygenation of your brain and heart. Disturbances in oxygenation cause irreversible cellular death. In the cases involving the heart, musculature damage occurs and is irreversible. Basically, the sooner there is medical intervention, the greater the chance of survival with minimal consequences. The best initial treatment is to receive an additional source of pure oxygen. THE LONGER SOMEONE GOES WITHOUT SUPPLEMENTAL OXYGEN THAT IS IN NEED, THE MORE IRREVERSIBLE CELLULAR AND TISSUE DAMAGE OCCURS! Time is of essence! MISSION STATEMENT The Maynard Fire Department is committed to providing you with the best prehospital care possible. We strive to make a difference in all the lives we touch and to provide the highest quality of life and positive resolutions whenever humanly possible. Our high standards, education, experience, professionalism, and above all; dedication are what make our EMS program so successful. Our vision is to continually enhance our program through an effective proactive approach. Enhancement of our education, equipment, technology, and continuous training are always our top priorities. This is accomplished in correlation with the latest advances in prehospital care. We also are committed to educating the community by increasing their overall awareness and effectiveness of prehospital care. EMS PROGRAM The Maynard Fire Department is a New York State Department of Health certified Paramedic Agency. We meet and in some cases exceed all areas of prehospital public health law. Additionally, we have over 10 NYS certified EMS providers. These dedicated providers range from the Basic level through Paramedic. We’re also very proud to have the majority of our membership trained in CPR and the use of Automatic External Defibrillators (AED). EMS CAPABILITIES 2 NYS DOH certified Rescue Trucks. Basic and Advanced airway management Monitor/Defibrillator Cardiac Monitoring 4 and 12 lead ECG’s (can send your heart strips via phone/fax to ER) Defibrillation (automatic and manual capabilities) Cardioversion External Cardiac Pacing Various types of Regional and State approved medications Immobilization and splinting equipment OB/Labor and Delivery Trauma management Pediatrics Mass Casualty Incident Management (MCI) Disaster Management Direct cell phone communication with hospitals Automatic External Defibrillators (AED) on every fire apparatus EMS TRAINING Most of our active membership maintains American Heart Association (AHA) at the CPR/AED level. All NYS certified members all start at the Basic EMT level. Once you successfully pass the class, state practical and written exams, you become a certified provider. Then, if you choose, you may pursue an advanced certification. Advanced levels are Intermediate, Critical Care, and Paramedic. Each level increases the responsibilities, classroom education and field procedures that are instructed. These classes vary in length and consistently expand as the advances in prehospital medicine continue. They also require lengthy hospital clinical rotations and a multiphase field internship that range from 75 hours to over 300 hours. CONTINUING EDUCATION Once you achieve certification through the NYS Department of health, your education and practice of skills does not stop. Every provider must recertify every three years. In the cases of providers that practice at advanced levels, there are both regional and state requirements that must be completed. We practice advanced life support within the Midstate region which encompasses Oneida, Herkimer, and Madison counties. All active advanced life support providers must demonstrate their competency in all advanced procedures every six months. Additionally, every provider must complete a minimal of 12 to 24 hours of classroom training a year and maintain a valid healthcare provider CPR card. Failure to fulfill these requirements suspends the provider’s ability to perform advanced procedures in the Midstate region. If you wish to review these requirements, click on the Midstate EMS link. Continuing education also blends into our continuous quality improvement (CQI) program. We consistently review documentation and critique our performance to identify ways we can enhance our service. This is done both formally and informally and is on going.
CONTACT INFORMATION
If there are any questions or concerns you wish to address, please feel free to contact our EMS Director, Steve Buda at sbuda@maynardfire.org
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