| Paramedic’s Corner: July was busy month as ‘trauma season’ starts |
By: Ambulance Director Gary Carmack
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Posted: Tuesday, August 25, 2009 11:28 am
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Ambulance Director Gary Carmack
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July was busy at the Pulaski County Ambulance District (PCAD) as we remain right in the middle of the warm weather months — what we refer to as “trauma season.”
PCAD personnel responded 463 times to the sick or injured in July, bringing the yearly total of responses to date up to 3,107 patients. The highest call area in July was Waynesville-St. Robert with 298 patients, followed by Richland with 53 and Crocker with 44. PCAD personnel also responded to Laquey 17 times, Rolla 15 times, and Fort Leonard Wood 11 times. Most of the Rolla and Fort Wood responses were for transfers.
The hospitals most requested and transported to were Phelps County Regional Medical Center in Rolla with 103 transports, St. John’s Hospital in Lebanon with 91, General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital with 58, and Lake Regional Medical Center at Osage Beach with 20. For long-distance transports, the most common destination was St. John’s Hospital in Springfield with 11.
The highest responses by age group were 70 years or older with 75 responses followed by 21 to 30 years old with 49 responses, then 51 to 60 years old with 38. The highest medical reason for calling was cardiac-respiratory and the highest reason for trauma calls was motor vehicle crashes and falls. The busiest day of the week so far for 2009 was Mondays at 729 responses.
The district just placed a new ambulance on duty. The 2009 C-4500 Chevy ambulance was put in-service at the Laquey ambulance base last week Sunday, after its first assignment covering the football scrimmage the previous Saturday. The new ambulance cost $139,000 and is equipped with more than $100,000 in equipment and supplies. This comes at a good time as the older Ford ambulances are really getting loaded with miles. Some have over 200,000 miles on them and require a lot of maintenance.
The district is also experimenting with remounting one of our Osage Ambulance boxes on a new chassis. This has become popular in recent years. Several years ago, this had to be done out of state and led to questionable results. However, today it can be done in Missouri at Osage Ambulance in Linn. This would result in a new ambulance for about half the cost.
The district is getting geared up for fall sports coverage. With football approaching we always have a class so we can review sports injuries as well as trauma procedures pertinent to football helmets and other equipment.
Please feel welcome to stop by any of our ambulance bases at anytime for free blood pressure checks, blood glucose checks, and a full set of vital signs. If the team is out on a call, you might have to return or go to one of the other bases. We take care of people with strokes and heart attacks most every day during emergencies and prefer a preventative approach.
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