Emergency Medical Services

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is a department of CMH that provides state-licensed Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Life Support EMS transport capability in emergency and non-emergency capacity with safe and efficient treatment and transportation of patients, regardless of age or other protected status.

EMS staff wheeling in a patient

Paramedics and EMTs respond to life-threatening medical and trauma patients, provide inter-hospital transfers, provide routine and scheduled transports, and provide support for law enforcement and fire/rescue operations. EMS also provides standby medical coverage at community events including sports, rodeos, and other events.

CMH EMS integrates into the local communities through involvement with local fire and rescue squads, emergency management personnel, city and county governments, and area law enforcement agencies. We participate in disaster management planning and hazmat planning in all the communities we serve. The EMS staff also provides community-wide education on emergency response, injury prevention, and community health. The EMS department provides initial EMT and Paramedic training in-house annually at an affordable rate to students with the objective of preparing them to be successful candidates for hire within our department after licensure.

The EMS department participates in hospital performance improvement and internal quality improvement programs. We recognize the importance of empowering our staff to provide quality EMS care that meets or exceeds patient's expectations. Performance and quality indicators are developed and monitored on an ongoing basis with hospital administration, EMS supervisors, EMS personnel, local first responders, and dispatchers. Patient care reports are continually peer-reviewed by Field Training Officers to ensure protocol compliance and proper documentation. Call reviews with crew members, responders, and dispatchers are conducted monthly to identify areas where response systems can be improved. Skill competency is assessed for EMS personnel through classroom and hands-on evaluations. Annual unit-specific goals are identified and analyzed on a quarterly basis and reported to staff through the performance center.

The EMS Department provides advanced life support and critical care patient transport with nine (9) on-duty ambulances, fifteen (15) vehicles, and seventy-two (72) employees. The majority of our service area is rural and suburban with 10,163 calls for service in the last 12 months (twenty-eight (28) calls per day). Our service area includes four (4) counties with a total population of 63,682 people in 2,179 square miles.

Our average length of employment at CMH EMS is six (6) years with our longest being twenty-nine (29) years. Sixteen percent (16%) of our employees have been here more than ten (10) years. Our staff of seventy-two (72) is comprised of twenty-eight (28) paramedics and forty-four (44) EMTs. The average age of our employees is forty-four (44) years old with seventy-eight percent (78%) being male.

These statistics were updated on Friday, July 27, 2018.

Links

EMS Tools, Information & Education