News

The NY Daily News reports that EMT Jason Green, one of the FDNY Dispatchers accused of failing to act to help a worker in an Au Bon Pain store at Metrotech who later died, was gunned down and killed in downtown Manhattan Sunday morning.

There are three things that I find interesting about the Daily News article that I just want to take a moment to point out:

• Is this evidence of Karma? Now I’m not looking to get into the legal or moral debate of whether what he did or didn’t do back in December was right or wrong, but I think the argument for Karma just got a bit of a boost
• Apparently the victim was transported to New York Downtown Hospital, which is not a trauma center. It’s pure speculation, but the chances are that he was probably in traumatic arrest when the units arrived and they correctly, as per the current protocol, transported him to the nearest facility. What is notable about this is that had St. Vincent’s Hospital still been open then that would have been the closest facility, and it also happens to have been a Level 1 Trauma Center
• I wonder if Jason Green realized that his inaction on that December day would be what he will be remembered for. I doubt it. What about you? What will you be remembered for? Steve Whitehead has a great post on this very topic

For The Resident Conspiracy Theorists: It seems that he was shot outside of a club that he had been denied access to, from unknown shooters that were inside a car. Was this a random drive-by, or a targeted hit? Hmmmm…

I heard about this Tweet from John Solomon in this post.

Every now and then there is something that comes out that seems like an epiphany, and because this says so much in under 140 characters that I just have to share it here:

Believing in the 7 P’s is something every public health and public safety agency should take seriously. We should also take the education of the public as to the importance of the 7 P’s, because ultimately at some level there is going to be some cost associated with it. Unfortunately, those expenditures are most often the first thing on the chopping block when cash gets strapped.

Luckily, it seems California has their priorities in place when it comes to having their preparedness in place. Sure, their Disaster Corps is volunteer, but volunteers are a great way to begin treating the public as an asset instead of a liability which has been a goal of FEMA Director Craig Fugate.

In the interest of full disclosure, I need to explain that I am a huge fan of The Terminator franchise. I am also a fan of the Predator franchise (and yes, I am pretty excited about Predators coming out), the movies The Running Man, Twins, Commando (Blow off steam, Bennett), Total Recall, The Sixth Day, and Kindergarten Cop (It’s not a tumor). While I may be a fan, none of that has affected my opinion in this post

A few weeks ago I highlighted a video that had been created to teach CPR basics to the Maxim crowd called Super Sexy CPR. The video was created by Fortnight Lingerie in an effort to highlight their product line of lingerie items that are generally more for your private enjoyment than for public display.

Over the week and change, I’ve heard quite a bit of criticism about the video. Everything from it being sexist, to it being not family friendly, and not being accurate. What these critics seem to overlook is that it is effective in educating others.

DIGG CEO Kevin Rose discussed it on DiggNation #238, and his comments about it are indicative of what a layperson in his general demographic (male, 18-49) may actually understand. Using certain clear language along with the way the information is presented is important and in this case more effective than in a certification class. The aspect he specifically points out is the video recommendation to perform compressions between the nipples, as opposed to a certification class that indicates the landmark be 2 inches above the bottom of the rib cage. It seems like a minute difference to us as professionals, but you have to remember that the typical person this is trying to reach is NOT a professionals and therefore education should really follow the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) methodology of presentation.

But Fortnight has not stopped their effective education efforts at CPR. They have forged forward with this video educating people on abdominal thrusts for choking victims…

Is Fortnight Lingerie the country’s new effective public educator for first aid and CPR? That’s the role the EMS industry should have embraced long ago, but to date has failed to do so.

So how much longer until EMS either steps up to a role it should have been fulfilling or will Fortnight Lingerie become the new EMS?

I’m an ardent supporter of EMS Professionals taking the proverbial public relations/education bull by the horns and doing what the agencies and multiple organizations that represent the industry continually fail to do effectively. One group of those professionals are the guys over at The Chronicles of EMS. Ted, Justin, and Mark are dedicated to creating compelling educational content for both the industry professional as well as for the average person, and have pitched the series throughout the entertainment industry.

While pitching the series to entertainment executives they received some valuable feedback, specifically that the tagline “The Reality Series” should be changed to something more… entertainy. In order to do that they have turned to the community and are running a Name the Show Contest. Since it’s a contest, there must be some prizes, right? There most certainly are…

The Grand Prize winner wins an iPad 16GB WiFi + 3G AND a round trip flight and accommodations at a future Chronicles of EMS filming location where they will appear in the episode!

Now there are some rules and regulations to the contest, but if you aren’t already a member of the Chronicles of EMS Community, shame on you!

So even if you don’t have a creative bone in your body, but you want to get involved in helping with the success of the project, you can Vote for Chronicles of EMS on OWN TV (which is the Oprah Winfrey Network if you didn’t know) and please be sure to share that voting linking on both Facebook and Twitter.

Over the weekend I was working in Manhattan. Looking up during a brief break I saw that the Empire State Building had been lit up for EMS Week.

I tweeted the photo, but I can understand where some people from outside of New York may not understand what the colors actually mean. So here’s a quick breakdown:

• The Yellow is representative of the New York State EMT Patch
• The White is representative of the New York City Paramedic Patch
• The Blue is representative of the Star of Life

I think it’s a very fitting tribute incorporating the New York EMS colors.

It turns out that patients resuscitated in the field aren’t the only ones with a low survival rate.

After a brief stay of execution, NBC has pulled the plug and pronounced EMS drama Trauma deceased. This isn’t the first time NBC has made such a move. In fact the outlook has been grim since October of last year.

After an initial outcry from the EMS community over how our industry was portrayed in the first few episodes, the show took a turn to what it should have been doing the entire time… creating compelling character stories. Unfortunately this creative redirection apparently wasn’t enough to keep the show alive.

I guess if I want my EMS fix on the screen, I’ll have to settle for Bringing Out The Dead in my DVD player.

Source: TV Series Finale and thanks to @Musicpub for alerting me to this development

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The recent flooding in Tennessee and Kentucky, most notably in the City of Nashville, brings back memories of that little storm called Katrina that happened nearly 5 years ago. While it would be nice to think that we learned our lessons from that disaster, the fact the national media has virtually ignored the story for 3 days is a bad omen that history will be repeating itself yet again… seeing as how it already just did.

Hurricane Preparedness Week is May 23 – May 29 this year, and Craig Fugate has already released this YouTube video appealing that citizens take responsible action and prepare for the potential of a devastating natural disaster:

Preparedness is something we need to do as both on an individual level as well as an Agency level. Failing to do so will only further prove that we have learned nothing from our past missteps.

Let’s collectively not let that happen.

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• At least 11 dead in Tennesee flooding (cnn.com)
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• Nashville Residents Return Home To Devastation: ‘My Whole Life Was Gone’ (huffingtonpost.com)
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The Associated Press reported yesterday that 4 EMS Workers were being punished for the death of Curtis Mitchell.

Mr. Huss said they should have walked to Mr. Mitchell’s home to retrieve him. “It’s that simple,” he said.
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

At the center of this mess has been Public Safety Director Michael Huss, who’s sole purpose of employment by the city of Pittsburgh is to direct the efforts to keep the public safe. While his quote above indicates that he was there on the scene, he has to my knowledge failed to disclose where he was during this time frame. However his lack of transparency did not prevent him from this prediction:

The six paramedics on the three ambulances could be disciplined, Huss said. He declined to say what that might be.
- Time 2/28/10

So the three different medic units, six medics in total, are possibly facing disciplinary action that may or may not have already been decided. This ominous tone is an attempt at bravado but ultimately is a cowardly act of deflection. Which then brings us to yesterday’s news that:

City officials decided to fire one acting crew chief, Josie Dimon, an 11-year veteran with medic unit No. 8. She will first serve a five-day suspension and can defend herself against the charges during that time. Another crew chief and two district chiefs each received three-day, unpaid suspensions.
-Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 3/23/10

This comes after the Pennsylvania Department of Health Investigation cleared the paramedics of any wrong doing. Now I am all for agencies not using their state minimums as their personal maximums, however Mayor Ravenstahl seems to indicate that it is a feeling as opposed to being an actual policy:

“When you look at the state’s requirements that nothing was done wrong, we feel differently,” said Ravenstahl. “But one thing that’s important to understand is that we have higher standards — in terms of what we expect from our paramedics here in Pittsburgh — than what the state requires.”

Ravenstahl, along with other city officials involved in the case, has not revealed what those standards are.
-WTAE 4 3/19/10

So if these standards are higher, why are they secret? I would think that is something the Mayor would be proud of… unless he thinks that he can just conjure up higher standards after the event and make them retroactive.

The fact is that Pittsburgh’s standards were not higher during the event as suggested by this quote:

Paramedics or firefighters will now be required to go to a caller’s door.
- Time 2/28/10

There comes a time when you need to stop laying blame and start accepting responsibility for both the actions and the delinquency. The disciplinary action against 4 workers (which calls into question as to what exactly happened to the other 2 since it was previously predicted that 6 would face disciplinary action) for a standard retroactively applied is an attempt to assassinate Pittsburgh EMS as an independent EMS provider.

How is it an assassination attempt you ask? How else would you characterize it when Josie Dimon, a paramedic on Medic 8 who was out there working in the snow, be the only one to be terminated while Kim Long, who was not on an actual ambulance but working in the EOC in a leadership role, is simply suspended for this incident? Oh… and as it turns out… for one other:

Long, a 19-year veteran, was in Allegheny County’s Emergency Operations Center that weekend and called Mitchell’s home several times to get details. She did not tell ambulance crews that Mitchell was in too much pain to walk to them, and once told Mitchell’s wife he needed to take a bus. Long received a second three-day suspension for a separate incident, in which she told a mother with a sick 2-year-old to walk through the snow to an ambulance, Huss said.
- Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 3/24/10

It seems Mr. Huss is going after those who obeyed direction as opposed to those that gave it. If you ever need a justification for going rogue in a poorly led system, that decision would be it.

While I have made no secret about my displeasure in the handling regarding this case by the so called city leadership, I’ve really left the heavy lifting on this to Rogue Medic (who shares his thoughts on this news with The Scapegoats Will Be Punished) and TOTWTYTR (who shares his thoughts on this news with Human Sacrifice). I just want to publicly thank them for adding their voices and sharing their additional knowledge so that we do not have to rely on just the mainstream media’s obviously poor version of events.

Sources: Associated Press, Time, Rogue Medic, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, WTAE 4

Inspiration for the title of this post: The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

There is a troubling story coming out of Pittsburgh about 10 calls to their 911 center for one patient that went unanswered by multiple EMS crews.

According to the story, Curtis Mitchell was experiencing severe abdominal pain during the snowstorm on February 5. The first ambulance dispatched after the second call to 911 was unable to make it through and stopped half a mile from his home. The responders reportedly advised their dispatch that if Mitchell could make it “across the bridge”, they would be able to treat him there. The second ambulance dispatched after the third call was able to make it four blocks from his home, but still could not make it to his house. Again the responders reportedly advised their dispatch that Mitchell would need to make it to their location. After 24 hours and seven more calls to 911 later, Mitchell passed away at his home.

I’m not going to defend the actions, or more accurately the inaction, of the EMTs on those ambulances. The city of Pittsburgh has recognized this as a failure of their system and has said they are investigating it so they can prevent this from happening again. What they’ll be doing exactly is still to be determined.

What I do want to do is answer a question by Mary Bey, Mitchell’s girlfriend’s aunt, that was asked on the CBS Early Morning Show:

“The thing that disturbs me the most is the response from the paramedic. When he made the comment, ‘If he wants a ride, then he’ll have to walk to us,’ I’ve never — what are they running — a transportation system? I thought it was medical.

CBS News attributes that quote to Sharon Edge, however after watching the interview I believe it was actually Mary Bey who was speaking

EMS personnel are trained to provide rapid stabilizing care for a variety of ailments, but more specifically for acute life threatening conditions. They are equipped with medical devices and interventions that are also commonly available in the emergency room of a hospital. There is indeed alot that EMS providers can do today as opposed to just 10 years ago. However, currently all of these treatments and interventions are very limited in their scope because EMS is not designed for long term, middle term, or even short term definitive care. EMS is designed as the band-aid between scene and hospital.

To answer that question, yes Mary, it is ultimately a transportation system.

And this blog post? This is the illustration to all the EMTs, Paramedics, and Managers that when EMS is unrealistically portrayed in the media… like perhaps when Medics descend from helicopters and syringes of magical medicine fly from their fingertips curing all in their sight or they defibrillate a patient laying in 3 inch sewer water by doing a handstand with the paddles on the patient’s chest who then sits up and asks why his shirt is burned… it crafts an unrealistic public perception of what we are truly capable of doing.

We need to stop allowing others to craft the expectations the public has of us. We need to tell our own stories. We need to inform the public of who we are and what exactly we can do. We also need to make sure that they know what we can’t do.

More importantly… we need to educate the public as to what it is that we want to be able to do. The Chronicles of EMS have already taken those first vital steps to start the conversation. We need to make sure that conversation continues and that there are actions following it. One of those actions needs to be public education. This is a responsibility duty we all share and owe it to our communities to keep them informed and let them know what we need from them in order for us to succeed.

EMS Week is three months away. Why wait? Start planning your public educational initiatives now. Need some inspiration? Check out these EMS Week Tips from Greg Friese to help you get the ball rolling.

Late last night I was made aware of another case in the Pittsburgh area of an EMS crew telling a mother with ill 11 month old twins to walk to them, and then left when she was unable to do so. This came via Elmer Fudd in this post’s comment section

Sources: Fox News, CBS News

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This past weekend was the premiere of the Chronicles of EMS first episode. It premiered both at a live event in San Francisco and on the internet through a UStream live feed. If you missed it live don’t worry. The entire episode is viewable here:

Powerful stuff isn’t it? Way better than NBC’s Trauma, more engrossing than Paramedic: Life on the Streets, and most importantly in my opinion is that it is heralding things still to come.

I see CoEMS as the industry’s Paul Revere… alerting it’s citizens and the world that there is a revolution taking shape. It’s a grassroots movement that has been seeded beneath our very feet and has the potential to grow and effect real change in the systems so many people, both providers and patients, find complaints with.

5 Things You Can Do To Help The #CoEMS Movement

Just like any grassroots movement looking to effect real change, the CoEMS movement depends on the passion of those who support it to spread it’s message. Here are some really easy things that YOU can do to help the cause:

• Share the video on Facebook
• Tweet about the video on Twitter
• Sign-up for the CoEMS Newsletter
• Join the CoEMS Social Network!
• Write your own blog post and link to the Chronicles of EMS Premiere Episode!

Real change doesn’t start at some agency in a land far far away.

It can start right where your sitting.

It can start with you.