Operations

TVF&R Partners with Transportation Engineers on Traffic Calming and Highway Intelligence
One of the core values of Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue (TVF&R) is teamwork, or as stated in its strategic plan: “We value teamwork and the strength of decisions developed through open and collaborative processes.” Nowhere is this value more evident than in TVF&R’s recent efforts to think outside of the box when it comes to its local streets and highways.

High-Tech Tools Give Medics the Edge
By Karen Edwards
A man aboard a 60-foot boat about 200 miles off the French Guyana coast had a heart attack, which according to paramedic Andrew Cull, is "probably the worst place in the world to have a medical emergency." Cull should know. As the founder and chief executive officer of Remote Medical International (RMI), he is all too familiar with medical emergencies off the beaten path.

Colorado Chief Conquers Consolidation Challenges
Dan Qualman has been living with change every day for the last year or so as fire chief of the new South Metro Fire Rescue Authority – a consolidation of the former South Metro Fire Rescue District and neighboring Parker Fire Protection District, about 25 miles south of Denver. How Qualman has led his department during this transition provides a fascinating case study into how change can be successfully accomplished despite a skeptical and wounded workforce.

Ruminations: That Dreaded Memo
By John Becknell
How will you handle it when your City Manager sends you that dreaded memo saying that the city is "examining a variety of ways in which we might cut costs..."?

Hospital and EMS Team Up to Reduce Door-to-Balloon Time
Last July, Blessing Hospital in Quincy, Illinois, started a program called Heart First, which sought to raise awareness about STEMI symptoms within the community, encourage people with cardiac symptoms to call 911, and make it faster and easier for EMS and other healthcare providers to alert the hospital about the impending arrival of a STEMI patient. Less than a year later, the program is showing promising results.

What Managers Can Learn from Paramedic Scene Management Skills
By Lauren Simon
Ontario Ministry of Health senior manager Anthony Campeau discusses his theory about how paramedics use specific social skills to successfully manage often chaotic and unpredictable incident scenes and thus take sufficient control of the situation to do whatever is necessary to best care for their patients.

Teachers' Insurance Funds CPR, AED Training
By Karen Edwards
The importance of AEDs in schools has become a nationwide issue, according to Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation President Mary Newman. Noting that about 7,000 youths collapse from sudden cardiac arrest each year, Newman said her organization has sent material to 20,000 US public schools, and, eventually she hopes to reach all 125,000 elementary and secondary schools in the nation to offer resources and support for more CPR training. New Hampshire, however, is already ahead of many states – thanks to the efforts of Matt Keene and McGregor Memorial EMS in Durham.

Alberta Non-Profit Training Physicians as Paramedics
Immigration is changing the face of Canada, accounting for more than two-thirds of its population growth nationwide. Because of its growing economy and an associated shortage of skilled workers, the province of Alberta has worked especially hard to attract immigrants – an effort that is paying off for medic-hungry Edmonton EMS.

West Shore EMS Leases EMTs to Volunteer Agencies
Reliance Hose Company #1 of Middleburg, Pennsylvania, has a volunteer ambulance service; however, during the day, it leases its EMTs from West Shore EMS, a large ALS service about 50 miles away. One day, two of the leased EMTs responded to a call for a 94-year-old woman in atrial fibrillation.

Supply Chain Resiliency: How Vulnerable Are You?
Think about your breakfast. Maybe you had orange juice, coffee with cream and sugar, a piece of toast with butter, oatmeal and a banana. Each of these foods represents a long history of people, processes and businesses working in a coordinated fashion to get these items from the grove or the farm to your table. This complex, interconnected web is part of your personal supply chain. Just as most of us don’t think about the supply chain behind the breakfast we eat, neither do most managers appreciate the operational supply chain on which their operations rely.

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