The value of CPR

Randy Stevens, 51 years old and in good health, was home with his girlfriend a few weeks ago... when his heart stopped.

Thankfully, his girlfriend is a paramedic.  And she collected herself well enough to begin CPR.

Randy's heart actually stopped 6 times, while he nearly died.  But Paramedics arrived to continue CPR.  And they gave him 6 shocks from an AED.

Fortunately, Randy is a strong person and he survived.  In fact, he made a full recovery and was home in time to celebrate Thanksgiving with his girlfriend and their seven children!!

Randy and his girlfriend have become strong advocates for CPR training - in every home.  They say Randy is living proof that it really works!

Hats off to Randy's girlfriend, Lisa, for her responsive.  This reminds us of previously mentioned stories where... a team of heroes saved a man's life... an Off-duty officer intervened in a threatening situation... and a Firefighter jumped in 48 degree water to save a drowning woman.

Here's a video of Randy saying THANKS to the Paramedics who saved him!

THANKS to EMTs

On Monday we said THANKS to Firefighters.  Tuesday we said THANKS to Police Officers.

Today we say THANKS to EMTs everywhere!!

EMTs have a demanding job.  Did you know an EMS event occurs every single second in the USA?  That's a lot of medical emergencies ... 36 million per year to be exact!

In fact, nearly 70% of all calls to a Fire Department are medical calls.  And despite tightening budgets, the public still expects very fast response times.

EMTs have a surprisingly dangerous job, considering the potentials attacks they face from violent patients and bystanders.  The big question is whether EMTs and Firefighters should carry guns.

EMTs are a vital part of the Public Safety community that serves the public tirelessly - both On-the-job and Off-duty.  For example, this Off-duty EMT bravely paid the ultimate price this year while reportedly protecting two women who were being threatened.

In a bit of good news, New York officials are pursuing new legislation to provide better legal protection for EMTs and Paramedics.

Throughout the chaos and devastation of Superstorm Sandy, many EMTs conducted life-saving rescues.

And at least one EMT competed in the 2012 London Olympics this year!

So this week, we say THANKS to EMTs everywhere!!

Paramedics & EMTs - Better Legal Protection

Paramedics and EMTs have intensely stressful jobs.  The intensity is in part because an EMS event occurs every second of the year!

But to top it off, Paramedics and EMTs face the threat of violence while on the job.  Victims, patients and bystanders sometimes attack, injure and even kill these workers.

EMT Betty Higdon recently told her story of being attacked by a patient in the Bronx (NYC).  She said he, "Grabbed my shirt, started punching my head, choking my neck until I couldn't breathe.  He came out of the restraints, he grabbed my hair.  So he started whipping my head back and forth."

But the attacker was charged with only a misdemeanor, not a felony.  The reason is because of the way the law is written.

So New York officials have proposed a new initiative to protect Paramedics and EMTs, in the same way the law protects Police Officers.  It is called The Assaults Against Paramedics and EMTs initiative.

Many Paramedics and EMTs feel the same way Betty Higdon does when she said, "I like to come to work to help people, I just want the support to do this job safely."

Should EMTs and Firefighters Carry Guns?

We already know Public Safety personnel have the most stressful jobs, including police officers, firefighters and military soldiers.  Here's one reason why... dealing with violent patients.

EMTs and Paramedics are no different.  EMS events happen continually, in fact an EMS event occurs every second of the year!  But we did not find statistical data to define the frequency of violent encounters.  If you know where we can find this data, please contact us.

What we do have, though, is a long list of anecdotal stories which tell of EMTs, Paramedics and Firefighters being assaulted:

• New York EMT shot and killed by patient
• Fort Wayne ambulance shot at 17 times
• Houston EMTs shot at
• Long Island Paramedic shot at
• Small town EMTs (in MT and NY) shot and killed
• Pennsylvania Paramedics attacked by man with a shovel
• Huntsville Firefighters attacked on Alabama A&M campus
• and the list could go on and on

Forget about the data, the rise of these stories is shocking.  And then the question comes up... should EMTs, Paramedics and Firefighters carry guns?

Some say yes.  Some say no.  Tell us what you think!

Go to our Facebook Page ... www.facebook.com/PublicSafetyStores

'Like' the page and share your thoughts!

Community Paramedicine

If you live in a big city you may not realize this... but almost 75 million Americans live more than 50 miles from the nearest medical clinic and hospital!

For me, in the Los Angeles metro area with 15 million Angelenos (and nearly that many Starbucks!), this can be hard to imagine.  But 25% of the US population lives a very long distance from primary medical care.  What can be done to bridge this gap?

One idea takes local paramedics and EMTs (often in the local Fire Department) and expands their training to help them become Community Paramedics.  Following this training, Community Paramedics support a regional healthcare system by staying in their rural setting and offering various medical services.

Already, about 70% of the calls to a Fire Department are medical related.  But in rural settings the volume of calls can be fairly low.  The concept of Community Paramedicine takes the underutilized services of a Fire Department and connects them to a local population for more than just Emergency Medicine.

Community Paramedics can be trained to offer services such as:

• Primary Care
• Public Health
• Disease Management
• Prevention and Wellness
• Mental Health
• Dental Care

If you are currently pursuing a paramedic program, or know someone who is, consider this one - Community Paramedicine.