Highlights from the 2017 EMS State of the Science: Gathering of Eagles Retreat & Conference

Forty medical directors from some of the largest population and call volume EMS systems in the U.S. and other countries—representing a cumulative 450+ years of medical direction experience—attended the Eagles' annual Eagle Creek closed retreat in Dallas Texas. The group conducted a lively roundtable of issues being confronted in their systems. Exact details and discussions are restricted to attendees, but we can say that the following topics were reviewed and considered for future action. Roundtable of EMS Issues Airway management Proper management of patient refusal Unsafe driving practices Transporting to free-standing clinics or suburban EDs with no inpatient beds Management, restraint and transport of psychiatric patients Rise in demand/call volume Delays in hospital turnover of patients Chronic staff vacancies Increasing costs of Narcan (naloxone) Rise in opiate overdoses, especially fentanyl A need to change the way we perform cardiac arrest resuscitation Budget restraints limiting the purchase of new equipment Provider stress Dual paramedics (with one weak provider) and how we can assist them in getting better System abusers (repeated callers for assistance) Medication mistakes in the field Provider credentialing issues (missing lapses and remedial action needed) Putting trauma kits in areas of mass gatherings Recruiting medical directors in suburban and rural areas How can we increase self-reporting Innovative ways to provide continuing education Staffing of shi...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Administration and Leadership Source Type: news