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EMS State Council
I attended a State Emergency Medical Services Council (SEMSCO) meeting last week. The council is introducing a pilot epinephrine program and they announced that CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) will now be available at the EMT-basic level. Council members also discussed community paramedicine and its potential to improve health care outcomes. It was announced that a bill, A-7503/S-5481, has been introduced in the New York State Legislature to amend the state’s Public Health Law to allow community paramedicine programs. This issue has been explored by NYS Bureau of EMS Director Lee Burns and the North Country Health System Redesign Commission. It’s particularly relevant for rural communities where community paramedics could provide routine checkups and medication compliance for the homebound and the chronically ill.
We’ve also been celebrating National EMS Week. We helped promote or host cookouts to thank EMS providers at Olean General Hospital, Jones Memorial Hospital, WCA Hospital and Brooks Memorial Hospital. A service to recognize all of state’s EMS providers was held at the New York State EMS Memorial in Empire State Plaza. I want to thank all the hospitals and all of our partner agencies for taking steps to honor our regional EMS providers.
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Stroke Class
We hosted a stroke class for more than 80 EMS providers Wednesday night. The class was presented live at Olean General Hospital and broadcast in real time using interactive distance learning technology to Alstar Training Center and Jones Memorial Hospital. Dr. Kevin McGee, DO, Dr. Robert Sawyer, M.D., and Sandra Watkins, M.S., R.N., all of Kaleida Health, presented the class. Our regional EMS providers are committed to providing the best-possible prehospital care. I think this class demonstrates why it’s important for us to support continuing education and work with our partners to provide these opportunities. These trainings benefit the EMS providers and promote community health and wellness. It also shows the importance of distance learning technology. More than 80 EMS providers were trained simultaneously. Without the distance learning training techniques we’ve developed over the last two years, this team of presenters would have to visit each of these training locations separately or providers would have to travel far from their homes to attend.
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It is the mission of the Southern Tier Health Care System to improve the health and wellness of our rural communities.
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