The emergency care drug shortages that we all hoped would be resolved remains a continuing problem, and some months have seen periodic escalations for critically required medications. EMS medical directors continue to struggle to maintain quality prehospital care and protect patient safety as they navigate through the challenges of ongoing drug shortages that seem endless. […]
There has been a lot of “buzz” about community paramedicine in recent months. Everyone’s talking about it. Professional associations and individual organizations are trying to figure it out. It’s a hot topic at upcoming Pinnacle 2013 EMS Leadership & Management Conference and will be at the 2014 EMS Today Conference & Exposition to be sure. […]
Ask the typical volunteer line officer what formal leadership training they received before taking the position. Many are likely to pause, think a moment, and ultimately say none. Although the volunteer EMS system is the backbone of EMS in parts around the country, the reality is that a portion of those who get into management […]
Recently, I completed a course from the University of Virginia (UVA) Darden Graduate School of Business. Instead of sitting in a lecture hall on the UVA campus, I viewed most of the lectures on my laptop computer while riding my exercise bike. My classmates, more than 65,000, were from around the world. Over a six-week period, we watched videos, read business case studies, participated in discussion forums and asked our professor questions that he answered in video chat sessions. Throughout the course, we were encouraged to complete and share writing assignments with other students.
Our EMS operations are full of processes. Some of our processes are designed in ways that make them prone to losing or misplacing things big and small—like backboards, radios, oxygen cylinders, supplies and medications. Some of those things require preventive maintenance, replacement after expiration dates or periodic inspections. This is the process of “asset management.”
In EMS, rarely do our roles and responsibilities adhere strictly to standard job descriptions. Our functions in emergency response circles often blur the lines of public safety and public health. Whereas our day-to-day interactions with public safety entities allow us, as EMS managers, to form closer relationships and have a better understanding of where we […]
Those of you who know me often consider me a zealous individual when it comes to the teachings of Jack Stout and his philosophies of High Performance EMS (HPEMS) and system status management (SSM). Although some consider these concepts to he unfavorable or designed purely to maximize profitability, they’re based on sound operations management philosophies […]
“Emergency Medical Services.” Really? Spend a week or two in our worthy profession taking some 9-1-1 calls, or responding to patient’s medical needs, and you will quickly realize that few of the requests for our services are really emergencies. Now, before everyone reading this quickly turns the page, let me offer some insight about the […]
Track national compliance with medical treatments In a previous column in the EMS Insider, I illustrated the need to deemphasize response times as the defacto quality measure of an EMS system based on the growing body of research appearing in peer-reviewed journals that shows response times greater than five minutes but less than 15 minutes […]
Learn to thrive in healthcare reform’s chaotic environment The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was signed March 23, 2010. It added a new word to our vocabulary: Obamacare. The re-election of President Barack Obama means that no matter what you call it (i.e., Obamacare, healthcare reform, the Affordable Care Act, the Federal Healthcare […]
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