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| EMS, FIRE RESCUE, DISASTER MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SINCE 1998 |
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May 2008 | Vol. 11 No. 5
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Best Practices in Laptop Data Encryption
As more emergency services begin to process and store employee and patient care data on laptops, PDAs and other portable electronic devices, managers would be wise to familiarize themselves with data encryption, which not only complies with federal laws requiring the protection of private information, but also has the potential to save the embarrassment of data compromise if an electronic device is lost or stolen. ....
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Narrowband VHF Radio Systems: Tips & Timing
In an effort to increase the number of radio channels, the federal government has mandated a restructuring of the Federal Radio Frequency Spectrum and a transition to narrowband VHF FM frequencies by 2013. Although this date may seem far away and many emergency agencies already operate with narrowband-capable radios in the field, managers are advised to start planning now for the final infrastructure transition.....
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Grief Support Programs Help Responders Manage Family and Friends at Death Scenes
More than 6,500 people die each day in the United States, and increasingly, those deaths are occurring outside of hospitals, where emergency responders are pronouncing death, terminating resuscitation and performing death notifications. These practices often put emergency responders face-to-face with the friends and family of the deceased. How responders manage acute grief responses and provide guidance in the immediate aftermath of an in-field death is exceedingly important to all stakeholders.....
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Consensus Group Recommends Benchmarks for EMS
When managers are asked to rate the performance of their EMS systems, they often disagree about what measures matter most. Only two EMS performance measures – response times and cardiac arrest survival – have nearly universal support. Now, a consensus group of renowned EMS medical directors has suggested that response time and cardiac arrest survival should not be the sole indicators of EMS system performance. ....
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News Analysis: Sacred Cows at Risk
In the world of emergency response, where very little is absolute, there are some interventions that have become so commonplace they are considered standards of care. A new paper by nine EMS medical directors challenges many of these sacred cows, including the standard advocated by both CAAS and NFPA that eight minutes is the optimal ALS response time.....
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Quick Look
The US Department of Transportation (DOT) informed the Cumberland Valley Volunteer Firemen’s Association Emergency Responder Safety Institute that the ANSI 207 high visibility safety vest, with specific features beneficial to responders, has been approved for use under a new federal rule. ....
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Media Monitor
Maryland is the only jurisdiction in the country where a state agency – the Maryland State Police – runs an EMS helicopter system financed by the public. A recent report revealed that about half the patients transported to trauma centers are not seriously injured.....
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Research Monitor
Researchers in seven countries who placed AEDs in the homes of close to 3,500 people who were at high risk for sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) have found that there was no significant reduction in death from any cause with a home AED. ....
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News of Note from Medicare
As of May 23, 2008, the NPI is required for all HIPAA-standard transactions. This means that only the NPI will be accepted in the primary and secondary provider fields on HIPAA electronic transactions and paper claims. ....
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Washington Monitor
Legislation that would reauthorize Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMS-C) passed the House of Representatives and was sent to the Senate, where it was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. The bill would extend EMS-C for up to five years and authorize funding of $25 million for fiscal year 2009.....
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EMS Paper is No Joking Matter
Here’s a good one: A fire chief, an EMS director and a police chief are standing before the City Council at budget time. The fire chief and the EMS director are both clutching the recently released position statement by the 2007 Consortium of US Metropolitan Municipalities’ EMS Medical Directors on “Evidence-Based Performance Measures for Emergency Medical Services Systems: A Model for Expanded EMS Benchmarking.” The police chief is clutching a vente black coffee from Starbucks.....
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