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HCAS is on the scene in time
Jim Pinson
Editor
NASHVILLE - Dedicated, highly skilled and professional are just a few words used to describe the men and women of the Howard County Ambulance Service.
John and Laura Gray are the owners of the HCAS.
John has been a paramedic since 1993 and manages the operation side and clinical aspects of HCAS. He is on the Board of Directors for the Arkansas Ambulance Association, where he also serves on the nominating and public relations committees. He is the chairman of the Provider Education Conference and Scholarship fundraiser committees. John is also the Howard County Coroner and serves the Nashville Chamber of Commerce as vice-president.
Laura has been a paramedic since 1997 and manages the billing.
John and Laura have two children, Madison (4) and Hayden (almost 1).
HCAS is a member of the Arkansas Ambulance Association and was named the ALS Service of the year award in 2005. There are 202 licensed ambulance services in Arkansas.
In 2007, HCAS transported over 1,800 patients with a fleet of three ambulances. John stated that a fourth ambulance will “ready for service within a month.”
HCAS averages 140 transports a month.
HCAS operates McCoy Miller ambulances with Ford chassis and fitted with custom-built patient compartments. Ambulances are replaced every five years and equipped with VHF radios, dual batteries, power inverters which assure EMTs with the optimal power for operating sophisticated medical equipment.
John stated HCAS’s ambulances also carry large oxygen systems, which “provide a patient’s oxygen needs for long transports.”
This is an essential tool for certain high-risk patients who require critical care monitoring and therapy, which is normally limited to an in-hospital environment.
Each ambulance is equipped with a LifePak 12 Cardiac Monitor. The LifePak 12 allows EMTs to monitor oxygen saturation in the blood, carbon dioxide levels and continuous blood pressure readings.
It also has the capability through the 12 lead EKG to determine if a patient is having a heart attack before they reach the hospital. It improves the quality of care administered to patients after clot busters have been administered at Howard Memorial Hospital. The LifePak 12 also provides vital signs trending, which allows for rapid evaluation of changes in a patient’s condition.
To help patients who are in respiratory distress breathe easier, each ambulance is equipped with a CPAP machine. The CPAP device reduces the number of intubations. The benefit of fewer intubations is less cost to the patient and less likely to require ICU admission.
HCAS is one of 18 ambulance services that offer CPAP services in Arkansas.
HCAS also has portable ventilators for patients whose ability to breathe is impaired.
Paramedics utilize a 3-line Transport IV pump. Pumps are used to administer meds to patients who have multiple IVs being administered while being transferred to the hospital.
For the administration of drugs when traditional IV access is difficult, HCAS can utilize the EZ-IO.
EZ-IO allows drugs or fluids to be administered through the marrow cavity of a long bone when shock, trauma or cardiac arrest causes the peripheral veins to collapse.
Medics are able to drill an IV point into the hollow part of the leg bone and deliver fluids within 10 seconds.
HCAS is one of only 30 ambulance services in Arkansas that offer the EZ-IO.
Service agreements provide for the preventive maintenance of Cardiac Monitors, biomedical, stretcher and communication equipment to insure that EMTs, ambulances and equipment is ready to respond to the needs of HCAS patients.
HCAS employs six full-time paramedics and four full-time emergency medical technicians. Each ambulance is staffed with one paramedic and one EMT.
All employees are certified by the state of Arkansas and must re-certify every two years. The re-certification process requires 24 hours of continuing education and a 48-hour refresher course. The paramedics and EMTs of HCAS have over 100 years of experience providing the quality emergency medical care.
Each paramedic and EMT is registered through the National Registry of EMTs. The registry is an independent, freestanding, non-governmental, not-for-profit organization. The NREMT certifies individuals by issuing a certification but does not issue a license or permit for EMTs. The certification process for the NREMT is more strenuous than the state requirements helping the staff at HCAS maintain a high level of competence in the field of emergency medical services.
Paramedics and EMTs are trained in the International Trauma Life Support class. The course provides EMTs with the knowledge and hands-on skills to provide the best care for trauma patients.
ITLS enables EMTs to master the latest techniques in rapid assessment, appropriate intervention and identification of immediate life-threatening injuries. ITLS training stresses rapid assessment, appropriate intervention and identification of immediate life threats.
EMTs also attend classes that provide skills for the evaluation and management of cardiac arrest patients.
HCAS EMTs also receive training in pre-hospital provider education in pediatrics or PEPP.
Statistics show that 10 percent of ambulance calls involve children and 1 in a 100 deals with a critical pediatric patient.
Laura stated that rolling up on an accident involving a child is difficult, “because the child did not do anything to cause the situation they are in.”
All ambulance drivers receive training in defensive and safe driving practices from the Coaching the Emergency Vehicle Operator (CEVO) agency.
HCAS vehicles are equipped with global positioning satellite units that provide real time location, direction, and speed and playback capabilities. This allows HCAS to reduce response time by entering an address and finding the closest available ambulance and directions.
A palm-sized Drive Cam is mounted behind the rearview mirror and wires into the ambulances’ electrical system. It continually records video, audio and G-forces into its looping digital memory.
When the camera senses hard cornering, braking or collision, it saves the previous 30 seconds plus video during and after the event.
HCAS provides the surrounding area with safe and dependable critical care transport.
HCAS is truly “Moving at the speed of life...”
