Eight Wake County EMS members were recognized for outstanding service on Friday, September 28, 2012 by the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce at their annual First Responders Appreciation Breakfast.  The EMS crews responded last January to a complicated double premature child delivery and ended up caring for simultaneous newborn cardiac arrests along with caring for the delivering mother.  The crews navigated through complex treatment protocols with very high stakes, and their tireless efforts paid off.  Today the mother and both babies are healthy and strong at home.

Congratulations to Paramedics Pete Gitto, Kendra Hicks, Beth Staley, Bridget Mulder; EMTs Hunter Crowder and Allen Beach, APP Chris Gherardi and District Chief Donovan Welsh on the recognition of their prompt, compassionate and clinically excellent care.

Back L to R: Beach, Gherardi, Crowder, Welsh
Front L to R: Mulder, Staley, Dr Myers, Hicks, Gitto

Skip Kirkwood, Chief, Wake County EMS Division, announced today the promotion of Mallory J. Ballance to the position of District Chief, effective September 1, 2012.

“District Chief Ballance joined the Wake County EMS Division in October 2004.  Since that time she has served as a staff paramedic, field training officer, relief district chief, relief advanced practice paramedic, and EMS academy instructor.  She holds an Associate of Science degree from Fayetteville Tech, a Bachelor of Science degree in Emergency Medical Services, with a management concentration, from Western Carolina University, and is a nationally-registered EMT-Paramedic.”

Dr. Myers, Director of the Department of EMS and the entire EMS command staff congratulate and welcome Disctrict Chief Ballance to her new position

Gov. Bev Perdue signed House Bills 837 and 914, Thursday, July 26, 2012, that will save lives in North Carolina.  House Bill 837 requires high school students to learn Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and the Heimlich maneuver, as well as pass a test showing that they are proficient in both. The bill will become effective for the Class of 2015, and they must pass the test to graduate.

House Bill 914 requires an Automated External Defibrillator in every state owned building, and staff to be trained in how to use it.  “These two bills underscore the huge importance of CPR and AEDs for the safety of the public,” said Wake EMS Public Information Officer Jeff Hammerstein. “Ensuring all high school students get this training, and setting the example of having AEDs in all State buildings will further create a culture that is trained and willing to provide emergency cardiac arrest care in those critical minutes before emergency help arrives”

Wake EMS’ 100 day campaign is centered on teaching the value and importance of AEDs and CPR. The point is to make people less afraid of hurting someone or being liable for any poor outcomes, to make it easy to shop for and purchase an AED and get training and to register the AEDs so that information on the exact location of the AED can be given directly to 9-1-1 callers when they need them most – during an emergency.

This is particularly pertinent to the Wake County EMS System. Over the last decade Wake County has lead the dramatic development of the most successful cardiac arrest outcomes in emergency medical systems, yet we’ve been able to have those successes in a community of relatively low bystander CPR rates.

Increasing bystander CPR and public access to AEDs may be one of the most important areas of focus for further increasing success rates and making sure no one dies from cardiac arrest unnecessarily.

 

Wake County’s Advanced Practice Paramedic Program (APP) is explained in this article in JEMS.  The article discusses how the APP program, along with others across the nation, are working to improve healthcare.

Congratulations to Field Training Officers Jason Wells and Brandon Utley, who won the Region 3 Preliminary Paramedic Competition last Saturday.  The competition was held at Fayetteville Technical Community College.

Click here for additional information on the NC Paramedic Competition.

“Fear keeps many from performing CPR during emergencies” – WRAL.com

“Wake EMS honored as heart attack survival rates rise” – The News and Observer

 

Wake County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) staff, along with Wake County Commission Chairman Paul Coble, announced this morning a major campaign aimed at helping citizens survive cardiac arrests. The Wake EMS 100 Day Heart Safe Automated External Defibrillators (AED) Campaign, which runs from Monday, May 14, through Friday, August 24, 2012, is designed to increase the availability of public access AEDs in the community.

“Today’s announcement is a crucial step in improving cardiac arrest survival rates,” said Wake County Chairman Paul Coble. “We encourage the business community to take advantage of this life-saving campaign.”

Wake County has partnered with local AED vendors to provide purchase incentives to businesses and groups participating in the campaign. Once purchasers register their device, the information is provided to the Raleigh-Wake and Cary 9-1-1 Centers so that dispatchers can quickly locate the unit and assist with the operation of the AED during emergencies.

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. and strikes more than 350,000 people a year, according to the American Heart Association. AEDs, along with Cardiac Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), provide an immediate and essential link that may be the difference between life and death.

One of the speakers at today’s kickoff was Mecklenburg County State Representative Becky Carney, who survived cardiac arrest in 2009. Carney credits the quick response of staff who used an AED to help stabilize her until Wake County paramedics arrived.

For more information about the Wake EMS 100 Day Heart Safe AED Campaign, visit www.wakegov.com/ems.

100 Day Heart Safe AED Campaign

On Monday, May 14th, Wake County EMS will partner again with Wake County’s Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention to recognize National EMS Week and National Women’s Health Week.

Stop in for:

-Free blood pressure and other health screenings

-Information on safe and healthy living

-Refresh your CPR skills and learn about AEDs

-Meet Pete the Paramedic Panda

-And more

The Open House will take place at Wake County’s EMS Station 1 located in the John H. Baker Jr Public Safety Center at the corner of W. Davie Street and McDowell Street.  The event is scheduled to run from 7:00 am to 1:00 pm.