Reflecting on Pennsylvania's EMS Issues from 2,300 Miles Away

My sister-in-law in Eastern Pennsylvania, sent me this great descriptive article published in the Times News from the six-county EMS region in Eastern Pennsylvania where I was director from 1975–1992. It presents a great update and facts on age-old issues that volunteer, BLS and low-volume services have. I wish I wrote it. Most of the issues are decades old and existed when I was the region's EMS Council Director, but now these issues are catching up with small services and choking them—financially and emotionally—to death. From 1975–1987, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's EMS law allowed (by interpretation) EMS Regional Offices to designate ALS regions, and we did so. They were all strategically selected, spaced and medically mentored by my office and a host of expert board members from hospitals, communication centers and EMS agencies, to cover the region equally and strategically 24/7 based on a high ALS call volume basis. Our regional medical director actually demanded and received staffing plans and skill verifications (e.g., assessments, successful IV starts, intubations) on a monthly basis before he would release the monthly ALS privileges to compliant services and paramedics. BLS services that wanted paramedics—many so they could bill at the ALS rate—fought us in court, but we prevailed. I mirrored our region's ALS unit deplyment on the Washington State MEDIC ONE program and it worked, as that program still does. Medics 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, ALSS, Northern ...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Exclusive Articles Columns Administration and Leadership Source Type: news