Comprehensive Emergency Medical Program

Comprehensive Emergency Medical Program

Charlestown implemented a comprehensive emergency medical program July 1, 2017. The new program allows Charlestown Safety and Emergency Services (SES) staff to consult with the Medical Center on-call physician as necessary in making the determination to transport to a hospital. They are also supplied with more diagnostic equipment.  Before July 1, 2017, the EMT license required an automatic transport to the hospital.

To implement the program, all SES Officers have been trained and certified as Emergency Medical Responders (EMR) by the National Safety Council. The curriculum teaches first responders to:

• Assess patients
• Address airway and breathing emergencies, including training on ventilation devices and oxygen
• Respond to cardiac emergencies, including CPR and automated external defibrillation training
• Treat illness and injury, including medical emergencies, such as bleeding and shock, soft-tissue injuries, and muscle, bone, head and spinal injuries
• Perform remote-location first aid and EMS Operations

The  SES officers carry more advanced diagnostic equipment to better assess and diagnose your condition. Some of these devices include pulse oximeters (indicating your level of oxygen saturation throughout the body), glucose meters (indicating your sugar level), along with blood pressure cuffs, and stethoscopes. They will continue to have bedside access to trauma kits, oxygen and AED’s. Additionally, this level of training will now allow our personnel to be more versed in patient assessments to include: the Cincinnati Stroke Scale, the Glasgow Trauma Scale, and others. The EMR’s also carry Glucose Paste (to elevate sugar levels), Aspirin (for strokes/heart attacks) and may assist you in administering epinephrine, as available. Additional medications are currently under review.

A new dispatch process will send two EMR certified SES officers to all medical calls of significance. While on-scene, one Officer will perform a full assessment, while the other is gathering information from the Vial of Life, medical records, allergies and other related necessities. The program has the capability of contacting an on-call Charlestown Medical Center doctor 24/7 as well as accessing the electronic medical record as needed.