COems411 Blogging

To bloviate is to to expound ridiculously'.  I think I have found another EMS Bloviator.

 This dude on LinkedIn asked a question about 'Culture of preparedness' and goes on to bloviate about who knows what:

Everyone talks about ‘creating a culture of emergency preparedness’ but no one talks about what the key elements are when creating any culture. How do we design a culture of preparedness to be used as a safety anchor for people to grasp onto when threatened?

If we’re trying to get people to understand that the ‘cavalry’ is not going to come riding over the crest of the hill to save them from most disasters – what are the visible attributes of culture – do we use artifacts [a rooftop with SOS spelled out on it perhaps], stories [Katrina, Ike, Greensburg KS, 9/11], rituals [the annual packing and unpacking of the ‘Go Bag’], symbols, beliefs, attitudes, rules and heroes?

In an age of fragmented views and diametrically opposed priorities – even among professional associations, advocacy groups, and govt agencies in the same space - who is setting the agenda for creating this culture of emergency preparedness?

Please don’t diss the query with a reply of ‘That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?’ or something along those lines. How do we take this concept forward – without playing the blame game and talking about past failures.

So what’s your ‘wish list’ – your priorities, your plan, your roadmap? What are you reaching for – is there a list of tangible ‘things’ that will make this work? What are the things – the three things that I/you/we can do – that will really make a difference?

What was it that RFK said about the danger of expediency – “of those who say that hopes and beliefs must bend before immediate necessities. Of course if we must act effectively we must deal with the world as it is. We must get things done.”

And when you read his title, 'Chief Shadchen with Company XYZ'...for us that are challenged in Hebrew, Shadchen means matchmaker. 

CUT TO THE CHASE, STOP TRYING TO SOUND HIGH & MIGHTY BY YOUR OVERUSE OF THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY...and STOP BLOVIATING

On ~ Oct 12th, 2008 9News.com reported.

DENVER – The fatal shooting of a toddler over the weekend may have been the end result of a love triangle involving the 2-year-old boy's parents and the man accused in the shooting.

and then later states...the toddler was pronounced dead at Rose Medical Center about 30 minutes after the shooting.

Littelton Fire...Get it together.  The services you provide is spotty & inconsistent.  Gotta tell yah, it appears you are a miss managed mess.

Starting Monday October 13th at 0800 LFR will be going full transport. The
Action Care contract has ended and the Rural Metro contract is still
pending. So for the next couple weeks you'll notice some changes on the
radio which include...

Medic 18 becomes Medic 16, plus Medic 12 & Medic 17 are going in service.

Online: http://douglas.co.scanamerica.us/index.php

Now here is a VERY interesting system that promotes the use of a multi-tiered EMS system.

Tier #1:  First Responders...Cops, Utility Workers, Bystandards, etc. (AED, CPR, Stop the bleeding, call 911)

Tier #2: EMTS...Fire Departments, Private ambulances, local area EMT providers AEDS.  (Basic to Intermediate airway Control, some 1st line medications.)

Tier #3: Paramedic...In a MICU unit. MICUs are staffed by 2 paramedics.  Some are non-transport units, other sare transport units

Tier #4:  ERs

Some of the big reasons for this structure is...

   1. "Experience has shown that the only way such skills (paramedic skills) and this knowledge base (paramedics) may be maintained is through contact with a certain “critical mass” of patients."
   2. Costs...It costs a lot to equip an ALS unit and staff it.  And the ongoing costs are also realized in Paramedic continueing education.

Read this PDF

OH...MICU stands for "Mobile Intensive Care Unit".  

I think this system makes sense, and could easily be adopted in most EMS jurisdictions

I think the quality of an ALS service and the quality of Paramedics within an agency, are improved when:

1. First Responders/EMTS utilize their skills.
2. Fewer Paramedics have more patient contac, and manage the patient frompoint of contact to ER Doctor

 I think having a Paramedic that manages 1000 calls per year and arrives on-scene in 8:59 seconds manage patients from point of contact to delivery of the patent to the ER Doctor.

VERSES