EMT City Administrator

As expected, the Collierville Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved a city ambulance contract with Rural/Metro Corp. and rejected the bids for expanding the animal shelter. The five-year ambulance contract with an optional one-year renewal is about $33,000 less per year than the amount Collierville is paying under the county's intergovernmental plan for ambulance service. Both Germantown and Collierville opted out of the county's ambulance plan this year. Germantown is joining Memphis and Bartlett in operating its ambulance service out of its fire departments. The Rural/Metro contract, which goes into effect July 1, is for a prorated annual fee of $422,400, compared to this year's prorated annual fee of almost $456,000. It calls for two ambulances at all times, three more ambulances as needed, and a nine-minute response time at least 90 percent of the time. Collierville Fire Chief Jerry Crawford said the two ambulances "will be in the same place they are right now in Fire Houses 3 and 5." Without discussion, the board also rejected the bids for expanding the Collierville Animal Shelter. Bids came in almost a half-million dollars over budget. While Monday night was a second reading and public hearing for the town's 2014 budget and property tax rate of $1.53 per $100 of assessed value, no residents showed up to ask questions. During a work session before Monday night's meeting, elected officials heard that plans for Hinton Park will be revised slightly as a cost-saving measure. No official action was taken. Landscape architect Dean Thomas with Dalhoff Thomas design/ studio suggested moving the pond's location to the lowest part of the property to take advantage of the natural drainage and save construction costs. Instead of a 2.6-acre pond, he is suggesting a 4- acre pond that will be 10 to 12 feet deep. In addition, Parks Director Chip Petersen said a portion of the undeveloped park land will likely be leased to a soybean farmer for a savings of between $20,000 to $25,000. Town Administrator James Lewellen told the board he is concerned that an elevated boardwalk that connects an adjoining neighborhood to the park won't be a scenic walk. "It is swampy and overgrown with ugly scrub. It will be like walking through a thicket to get to a park," Lewellen said. He said the board should consider allowing a small pond to be built in the wetlands to enhance the area. Town officials are projecting they will seek bids for the project in November. A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

NEW YORK, June 11, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- District Council 37, AFSCME, Executive Director Lillian Roberts has called on the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to investigate the city's 9-1-1 emergency response system citing recent failures and the fact that the $2 billion system was funded, in part, by federal dollars. Roberts, head of the city's largest public employee union representing 121,000 workers, including over 1,000 emergency operators and dispatchers, stated in a June 10th letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, "The present status of the 9-1-1 system upgrade - massive cost overruns, waste and allegations of fraud, serious operational issues and significant understaffing - poses a serious threat to public safety and is a significant drain on much- needed public resources." Noting that shortly after the new system went on line following a recent $88 million upgrade, it began experiencing glitches and operational failures, Roberts said, "The 9-1-1 operators were forced to record emergency information by hand on slips of paper in order for runners to race through the emergency call center's vast Brooklyn headquarters to deliver them to dispatchers charged with alerting the appropriate response team." To date, there have been three NYC City Council hearings on the 9- 1-1 system breakdowns but, Roberts noted, the city has not taken steps to correct the system's failures. NYC Controller John Liu found, in a recent audit, that Mayor Bloomberg's project to upgrade the system was seven years behind schedule and $1 billion over budget and only one component of the system upgrade was presently up and running. Liu also indicted that the City's emergency 9-1-1 program was significantly impacted by the contractors' delays in meeting their contractual obligations resulting in a $362 million additional cost to the city. Roberts adds, "The overall cost of the glitch-ridden system has soared from $1.4 billion to more than $2 billion, and chronic understaffing under the Bloomberg administration nearly doubled annual overtime expenses since 2008 to $4 million, with this year's tab expected to hit $4.5 million." Roberts' letter to DHS insists that the Bloomberg administration has "created a serious threat to public safety and wasted millions of dollars by contracting out the project to firms with questionable performance records, such as Intergraph Corp. which has been implicated in breakdowns of similar systems in San Jose, Calif., and Nassau County." District Council 37 is New York City's largest public employee union, with 121,000 members and 50,000 retirees. Contact: Zita Allen, Communications Director Molly Charboneau, Rudy Orozco (917) 309-2210 SOURCE District Council 37 Originally published by District Council 37. © 2013 PRNewswire. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved. A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

June 11--OAKLAND -- A 16-year-old Oakland High School student accused of killing a San Jose paramedic during an attempted carjacking in the Oakland hills pleaded not guilty to the crime Monday as his father claimed the teenager was framed. Christian Burton is accused of killing Quinn Boyer on the morning of April 2 during an alleged attempted carjacking near the intersection of Keller Avenue and Hansom Drive. Police say Boyer was sitting in his parked car along the side of the road when Burton and five other juveniles drove up in a stolen car. Police said Burton got out of the stolen car, walked up to Boyer, 34, and fired a gun point-blank at Boyer's head. Boyer then tried to drive away but crashed his car down an embankment, authorities said. Boyer was alive when police and paramedics arrived but remained unconscious for two days at a hospital and then died on April 4. Burton's father, Richard Burton, said outside of court Monday that he does not believe his son is capable of killing another human being. "My son is innocent in this case, I just don't believe it," Richard Burton, 39, said. "Christian is not capable of doing this, as far as an alleged killer, he is not that type of kid." Richard Burton said he drove his son to school on April 2 and watched as he walked into the building. He said he would have been notified if his son skipped a class. In addition, Richard Burton said that his son was routinely bullied and believes others pointed fingers at Christian Burton as a scapegoat. "My son knows right from wrong," Richard Burton said. "I think that it might just be a mishap in identity." Police have said that Christian Burton admitted being at the scene of the shooting and admitted pulling the trigger on the gun that killed the off-duty paramedic. Boyer, a Dublin resident, was in the Oakland hills after taking his father home from a doctor's appointment. He had worked as a paramedic for Santa Clara County since 2008. Five other juveniles, including a 13-year-old boy, have been charged in connection to the killing. The Alameda County District Attorney's Office, however, has refused to release any details of the charges filed against the other teens. ___ ©2013 The Oakland Tribune (Oakland, Calif.) Visit The Oakland Tribune (Oakland, Calif.) at www.insidebayarea.com Distributed by MCT Information Services A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

June 10--POTEAU -- Emergency Medical Services of LeFlore County paramedic Anthony Stankewitz loves the challenges and fast decisions required by his job. "I like the stress of it. I live off it," Stankewitz said, laughing. In April, Stankewitz, 22, of Spiro received the 2012 Oklahoma Paramedic of the Year Award. What makes it most meaningful to him, he said, is that he was nominated and selected by his peers. Stankewitz' boss, EMS of LeFlore County Executive Director David Grovdahl, not only nominated Stankewitz for the award, but just promoted him to shift supervisor of the EMS station at Poteau. "Anthony has been one of those people who believe their education is just beginning, and he's absolutely devoured any educational opportunity he's found. ... From a clinical perspective, he is probably one of the smartest paramedics we have. He is very knowledgeable, ... he has been very focused, right out of school on his first job," Grovdahl said. That's high praise from the head of an EMS agency that in March was named one of the Top 10 Innovators in EMS in the nation for 2012. The Journal of Emergency Medical Services in partnership with Physio-Control, a global provider of emergency medical response technologies, announced the awards on March 7, citing Grovdahl's aggressive revamping of the local EMS to improve service and patient care in the "super rural" county through technology and better educational services. The award citation notes that EMS of LeFlore County improved its patient "save rates" from 6 percent to 40 percent and had not experienced a failed respiratory intubation among the almost 200 its staff performed over the past three years. The Journal of Emergency Medical Services ranked the local EMS' efforts among those of large urban area-serving departments including Miami-Dade, Fla., and Fort Worth, Texas. Stankewitz earned his emergency management technician certification from Kiamichi Technology Center in 2007, a year before he graduated from Spiro High School. He joined LeFlore EMS in November 2009. "My first real job. I grew up here, I guess," Stankewitz said. He went to paramedic school at Kiamichi in 2010, and is now studying for an associate degree, also in emergency medical services, at Oklahoma State University at Oklahoma City. Stankewitz said the LeFlore EMS works six ambulances daily from five stations throughout the county. He oversees a 12-member crew, and the department has 34 medics overall. Stankewitz' duties include teaching. On a typical day, the crew members arrive, gets a report from the off-going crew, inventory the ambulance they'll be using, change out any supplies that need to be changed, "and wait for it" -- the call for emergency transport. Stankewitz estimates that in a typical day he'll go on four calls, although he's never noted any pattern to the calls. Because the county is so rural, it is not uncommon to spend two hours with a patient, he said. Stankewitz said in his down time between calls he fields a lot of telephone calls, answers a lot of questions and does a lot of education work. He had been working 12-hour shifts, and says he now is adjusting to 24-hour shifts. The Poteau station was built for two full-time EMS crews and includes four private sleeping quarters, a full kitchen, small recliner-equipped living room, training, storage and maintenance rooms, and the ambulance bay, which houses ambulances stocked for 12-hour and 24-hour shifts. Built as a public safety building and owned by the county's 911 department, the station also houses 911 dispatchers, a Highway Patrol sub-office, the county Department of Emergency Management and the 911 sign-making shop. Why choose an emergency medical services career? "I don't know. Since I was little I always wanted to do it, so I did it," Stankewitz said. His favorite part? "In this system, I think we're given a lot of autonomy, medicine-wise, so the challenge of autonomy," he said. The toughest part? "I think the hours, the schedule, how much it affects you in the outside world. ... It is one of those jobs that consumes every part of your life, whether you're here or not, you're still working," Stankewitz said. What would you want people to know about EMS services? "I guess that it's more than what people see at the hospital. There's a lot more medicine, a lot more high-risk skills. There's a lot more to it than just giving somebody a ride," Stankewitz said. Stankewitz rises to challenges on and off the job, Grovdahl said, noting that he battled cancer twice. Stankewitz said he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in January 2011 and underwent treatment for it at Fort Smith for the rest of that year. The cancer recurred six months later, and he went to Oklahoma City for continued treatment, including a stem cell/bone marrow transplant. Stankewitz said he's had a good bill of health since. ___ ©2013 Times Record (Fort Smith, Ark.) Visit Times Record (Fort Smith, Ark.) at www.swtimes.com Distributed by MCT Information Services A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

Text of report by H. Said/M. Ismael published in English by state- run Syrian news agency SANA website Damascus - The Ministry of Health on Saturday [8 June] announced that it received 15 fully-equipped ambulances offered as a gift from the people of Iran to the Syrian people. Health Minister Dr Sa'd al-Nayif said that the ambulances will be distributed immediately to six governorates in which the rescue system services sustained big losses compared to the rest of provinces. The minister expressed the ministry's appreciation for Iran's intensified efforts to meet the health needs in Syria at a time when the EU and US slapped economic sanctions that hit all service sectors there, including health, which had negative impact on the lives of citizens and patients. He added that the provision of new ambulances comes in parallel with the ministry's non-stop efforts to rehabilitate and reinforce the rescue system services in cooperation with international health and humanitarian organizations and friendly countries, especially Iran. Al-Nayif said that the ministry earmarked up to SYP 1 billion last year to cater to the needs of the emergency departments at hospitals and bolster their strategic reserve, vowing that the ministry will continue to do so despite the repeated terrorist attacks against the rescue systems. Representative of the Iranian embassy in Damascus Sayyed Reza Kazimi Mohamadi said Iran will continue to support the Syrian government and people, urging the countries "who claim to be friends of Syria to support the humanitarian situation and stop weapons' shipments to the terrorists there." The Health Ministry received last August a batch of advanced medical equipment and materials and ambulances from Iran worth USD 1.2 million. Originally published by SANA news agency website, Damascus, in English 8 Jun 13. © 2013 BBC Monitoring Middle East. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved. A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

MARGATE - Bernie Friedenberg lived through the D-Day invasion, but he has difficulty talking about it to those who weren't there. "It's hard to describe. It's actually indescribable," the 91-year-old said from his Margate home Tuesday. "We came in on Omaha Beach. The Coast Guard was supposed to drop us off in waist-high water, but when I went in it was over my head. There was a lot of fire. They (Coast Guardsmen) wanted to get the hell out of there. I don't blame them." Today is the 69th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, when Allied troops landed in Normandy in northern France and started an invasion that helped lead to the end of World War II. Friedenberg, a 1940 graduate of Atlantic City High School, had his mission; the medic was given 50 pounds of medical supplies to bring ashore. "It had been stressed that the supplies had to get to the beach," he said. "They didn't know how long it would be until they got more in. It was important to get on that beach. I made up my mind I would do it, and I did." The Army staff sergeant served in the 1st Battalion of the 16th Infantry Regiment. His unit was in the fourth wave of landing craft to hit the beach. When Friedenberg arrived on shore, he said, he saw numerous wounded soldiers. "We had found a massacre. There was no other way to explain it. How I made it through, only God knows," he said. "Everywhere I looked, someone was screaming, 'Medic.' People asked me if I was scared. Everyone was scared. Once I got in and started (working on the wounded soldiers), I was too busy. I couldn't think of being scared." The situation quickly turned into chaos, Friedenberg said. "Every man was for himself," he said. "No one knew where they were or where to go." The Germans had placed barbed wire and minefields along the shore. Proper procedure was to wait for engineers to come in and determine a safe path, but many soldiers had gone ahead and stepped on the mines - causing them to lose parts of their legs and place their lives in jeopardy. Friedenberg said he ran to the area and carried five men back to safety. He was later awarded a silver star. He said he received two silver stars, two bronze stars and two purple hearts during his 31/2 years in the Army. He continued through Europe and was in Czechoslovakia when the war ended 10 months after D-Day. He also was in Germany during the occupation after the war ended. 'I'm a Jew' Friedenberg was a student at Temple University when he tried to enlist Dec. 7, 1941, the day of the Pearl Harbor attack. He was denied because of bad eyesight. But he kept going back to the enlistment station until he was finally admitted. "The lieutenant asked me why I was so anxious to fight. I said, 'Look, I'm a Jew. They want to kill Jews. They want to kill my father, my mother, my sister. They want to take away everyone I love.' He said, 'I don't know what to do with you.' I said, 'Give me a weapon. I want to go where the Germans are,'" Friedenberg said. "I guess I was kind of goofy, but that's how I felt." Becoming a medic was not Friedenberg's idea. He initially asked to be a rifleman, but he was assigned to be a medic because of his poor eyesight. "I always had three or four eyeglasses with me," he said. "If I didn't have my glasses, I was a dead man." And after his many experiences in combat, he said he is happy with his assignment. "In retrospect, I'm glad I served as a medic," he said. "My father and I mailed each other letters, and in one of them he reminded me of the Jewish expression 'whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.'" Trouble returning home Friedenberg suffered several injuries, including concussions and shrapnel to his forehead. He also suffered substantial hearing loss after being near so many explosions. When he returned home, he had a difficult time adjusting. Friedenberg said he had "an overdose of combat," and at first he drank frequently and couldn't work. After about six months, his father took him on a vacation to Florida for 10 days, after which he said he was able to begin healing. Still, there were struggles. Phyllis Rogers, his wife of 65 years, said on their honeymoon a plane flew low overhead. Her husband jumped out of the car and ducked on the street. "I thought I just got divorced," she said. During the 50th anniversary of D-Day in 1994, Friedenberg said, some of his issues came back up and he went to the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Wilmington, Del. On the advice of an Army friend, he saw a psychiatrist, who suggested he write a book as a cathartic way to deal with his emotions. "Of Being Numerous: World War II as I Saw It" was published in 2008 by the Holocaust Resource Center at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. It has sold hundreds of copies to people interested in his story. Now, Friedenberg said he is proud of having been part of the historic battle. "We knew it was the beginning of the end," he said. "We knew the invasion was the most important thing of the war." Contact Joel Landau: 609-272-7215 JLandau@pressofac.com Follow @landaupressofac on Twitter A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

June 06--MARGATE -- Bernie Friedenberg lived through the D-Day invasion, but he has difficulty talking about it to those who weren't there. "It's hard to describe. It's actually indescribable," the 91-year-old said from his Margate home Tuesday. "We came in on Omaha Beach. The Coast Guard was supposed to drop us off in waist-high water, but when I went in it was over my head. There was a lot of fire. They (Coast Guardsmen) wanted to get the hell out of there. I don't blame them." Today is the 69th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, when Allied troops landed in Normandy in northern France and started an invasion that helped lead to the end of World War II. Friedenberg, a 1940 graduate of Atlantic City High School, had his mission; the medic was given 50 pounds of medical supplies to bring ashore. "It had been stressed that the supplies had to get to the beach," he said. "They didn't know how long it would be until they got more in. It was important to get on that beach. I made up my mind I would do it, and I did." The Army staff sergeant served in the 1st Battalion of the 16th Infantry Regiment. His unit was in the fourth wave of landing craft to hit the beach. When Friedenberg arrived on shore, he said, he saw numerous wounded soldiers. "We had found a massacre. There was no other way to explain it. How I made it through, only God knows," he said. "Everywhere I looked, someone was screaming, 'Medic.' People asked me if I was scared. Everyone was scared. Once I got in and started (working on the wounded soldiers), I was too busy. I couldn't think of being scared." The situation quickly turned into chaos, Friedenberg said. "Every man was for himself," he said. "No one knew where they were or where to go." The Germans had placed barbed wire and minefields along the shore. Proper procedure was to wait for engineers to come in and determine a safe path, but many soldiers had gone ahead and stepped on the mines -- causing them to lose parts of their legs and place their lives in jeopardy. Friedenberg said he ran to the area and carried five men back to safety. He was later awarded a silver star. He said he received two silver stars, two bronze stars and two purple hearts during his 3 1/2 years in the Army. He continued through Europe and was in Czechoslovakia when the war ended 10 months after D-Day. He also was in Germany during the occupation after the war ended. 'I'm a Jew' Friedenberg was a student at Temple University when he tried to enlist Dec. 7, 1941, the day of the Pearl Harbor attack. He was denied because of bad eyesight. But he kept going back to the enlistment station until he was finally admitted. "The lieutenant asked me why I was so anxious to fight. I said, 'Look, I'm a Jew. They want to kill Jews. They want to kill my father, my mother, my sister. They want to take away everyone I love.' He said, 'I don't know what to do with you.' I said, 'Give me a weapon. I want to go where the Germans are,'" Friedenberg said. "I guess I was kind of goofy, but that's how I felt." Becoming a medic was not Friedenberg's idea. He initially asked to be a rifleman, but he was assigned to be a medic because of his poor eyesight. "I always had three or four eyeglasses with me," he said. "If I didn't have my glasses, I was a dead man." And after his many experiences in combat, he said he is happy with his assignment. "In retrospect, I'm glad I served as a medic," he said. "My father and I mailed each other letters, and in one of them he reminded me of the Jewish expression 'whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.'" Trouble returning home Friedenberg suffered several injuries, including concussions and shrapnel to his forehead. He also suffered substantial hearing loss after being near so many explosions. When he returned home, he had a difficult time adjusting. Friedenberg said he had "an overdose of combat," and at first he drank frequently and couldn't work. After about six months, his father took him on a vacation to Florida for 10 days, after which he said he was able to begin healing. Still, there were struggles. Phyllis Rogers, his wife of 65 years, said on their honeymoon a plane flew low overhead. Her husband jumped out of the car and ducked on the street. "I thought I just got divorced," she said. During the 50th anniversary of D-Day in 1994, Friedenberg said, some of his issues came back up and he went to the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Wilmington, Del. On the advice of an Army friend, he saw a psychiatrist, who suggested he write a book as a cathartic way to deal with his emotions. "Of Being Numerous: World War II as I Saw It" was published in 2008 by the Holocaust Resource Center at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. It has sold hundreds of copies to people interested in his story. Now, Friedenberg said he is proud of having been part of the historic battle. "We knew it was the beginning of the end," he said. "We knew the invasion was the most important thing of the war." Contact Joel Landau: 609-272-7215 JLandau@pressofac.com Follow @landaupressofac on Twitter ___ ©2013 The Press of Atlantic City (Pleasantville, N.J.) Visit The Press of Atlantic City (Pleasantville, N.J.) at www.pressofatlanticcity.com Distributed by MCT Information Services A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

June 05--CHEYENNE -- When Catheryne Gerber graduated from emergency medical technician training on May 13, her biggest worry was finding work. But just three days after finishing her coursework at American Medical Response, work came to her. Gerber's training and quick thinking helped save the life of a 46-year-old Cheyenne man, Alan Morrison. He had suffered a heart attack while playing softball at the Converse Avenue complex. Morrison, who works for APW Wyatt, a local kitchen equipment manufacturer, said he went for a foul ball. "We were in the fourth inning, and I remember running over there thinking, I was finally going to finish a game," he said. Morrison had been unable to complete two earlier games due to injuries. "I remember throwing the ball back to the pitcher," he said. "The next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital." Brenda Hammock, a clinical education specialist at American Medical Response, said Morrison went into ventricular fibrillation. That is when the lower chambers of the heart twitch randomly instead of properly pumping blood. "V-fib" is a leading cause of cardiac arrest, and people can die within minutes without immediate attention. "One of his major arteries was completely blocked," Hammock said. "He had no pulse and (gasping, labored breathing), which is a very common thing: Your brain is trying to get oxygen." By coincidence, Gerber was also at the complex that evening, rooting for another team. She heard a woman calling for help. "There was a lady running around asking for a doctor or nurse, EMT," Gerber said. "I thought to myself, 'Oh crap!'" Gerber said no one seemed to be offering to help, so she followed the woman. Upon seeing Morrison, she recognized the signs of a major heart attack and began giving directions to a bystander on the phone with 911. "He was lying there, not breathing. He had no pulse, so I immediately opened up his airway," Gerber said. "A friend of his started doing CPR, and I guided him at first because he was going really fast. Then I did a set and then we switched again." It took only four minutes for paramedics and fire crews to arrive and help stabilize Morrison. But AMR paramedic Beau Murphy said Gerber's actions were nonetheless crucial to Morrison's survival. "What the compressions were doing was circulating enough oxygen and blood to maintain that V-fib (and prevent a complete cardiac arrest)," Murphy said. Within 10 minutes, the paramedics had Morrison stabilized, and they took him to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center. There, the cardiac catheter lab was able to clear the blockage in his artery and install stents in his heart. But it wasn't until interviewing alongside the paramedics this Tuesday that Morrison learned just how lucky he was. While AMR paramedics are able to save about 29 percent of heart attack cases n about 10 percent higher than the national average n the patients who survive almost always have added complications due to oxygen deprivation. Cody Schilling, who taught Gerber's EMT courses, said that for a patient to be walking around just days after a heart attack is the exception rather than the rule. "To make a full recovery out of that is very rare," he said. "This is probably the fourth one this year for us out of a couple hundred calls." Gerber said she felt a rush of adrenaline at the time she helped save Morrison's life, but she added she doesn't feel like a hero. "I just started it; (the paramedics) are the ones who did it," she said. But Murphy insists that had Gerber not acted when she did, Morrison's life would be different today -n if he had survived at all. "It made the difference between him sitting here now and possibly being in a coma," Murphy said. "It took me five years in EMS before I had a cardiac arrest save, and I couldn't count how many cardiac arrest calls I'd had." Hammock said Morrison's survival also shows the importance of learning compression-only CPR, a technique that takes just minutes to acquire and does not take certification. "We'll do it for free," she said. "You can walk in and I can teach it to you in 10 minutes." Gerber said she plans to continue her hunt for an EMT job in the region, now with the best resume booster she could ask for. But Hammock said she is hoping Gerber won't have to look far. "Trust us, we have our eye on (her) and we're certainly going to let her know about our next hiring academy," Hammock said. As for Morrison, he has committed to quit smoking and change his eating habits. He said he still doesn't remember much of anything from his heart attack, but he's grateful for the new lease on life. "It's like a dream, like it really didn't happen. But every time I look in the mirror, it's like, it did happen," Morrison said. "It's a miracle. It really is." And today, just two and a half weeks after his brush with death, Morrison is returning to work. ___ ©2013 Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Cheyenne, Wyo.) Visit Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Cheyenne, Wyo.) at www.wyomingnews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

June 05--LONGMONT -- A city-run ambulance service could generate up to $480,000 in its first year, if the billing assumptions are correct, emergency manager Dan Eamon told the Longmont City Council on Tuesday. The city has been looking at whether to stay with its current ambulance service -- American Medical Response -- or to go it alone, as part of a larger discussion on improving how Longmont's health services are provided. Specific options still are being worked out, Eamon said, but they fall into four general categories: Keep a private carrier under the current contract terms. Keep a private carrier under different contract terms. Use a city-run service, but hire new personnel to run it, estimated to have a net income of $40,000 in the first year. Use a city-run service, but re-assign existing personnel to run it, estimated to have a net income between $430,000 and $480,000 in the first year. The trick, both Eamon and Public Safety Chief Mike Butler noted, is in the collection rate. In services reviewed by the city, the amount collected on bills ranged from 32 to 83 percent; Longmont's model was built on a 40 percent assumption. "That's why we're still looking at it," City Manager Harold Dominguez said. "Those assumptions are critical to these decisions." AMR's contract runs out Oct. 31, but can be renewed under its existing terms for one year. Hank McCarthy of the Longmont Professional Firefighters Association said a formal statement from the union would be issued later. "We're certainly concerned about what we've heard tonight," he said. Butler said the option of re-assigning personnel would not result in cutting one fire engine, a possibility that had been discussed earlier. Regardless of the provider, the plan calls for a "tiered response" to calls, where the number of vehicles and personnel sent to a call could vary depending on how bad the situation was. Serious calls such as a heart attack, would still get a fire engine and ambulance running "emergent" (sirens blaring), while a low-priority response might get one ambulance running non-emergent. The overall "Longmont Community Health Network," a collaboration of public and private health agencies, has been working on ways to cut health care costs and increase access to medical services. That includes providing more intensive in-home care to the residents most in need of it and directing fewer cases to Longmont United Hospital's emergency room. Some of the initiatives suggested by the plan include having the city's "urgent care" clinics open from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. -- a time slot that accounts for 25 percent of the ER's cases -- or having a paramedic work with Salud's volunteer teams to help provide follow-up care. "We're looking to connect things that already exist," Eamon said. "We're not creating a new system." Scott Rochat can be reached at 303-684-5220 or srochat@times-call.com. ___ ©2013 the Daily Times-Call (Longmont, Colo.) Visit the Daily Times-Call (Longmont, Colo.) at www.timescall.com Distributed by MCT Information Services A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

MIAMI _ Disregard the double-entendre name of Animal Planet's new, eight-part competition reality series. Top Hooker might be about the world's oldest profession, but it's not what you think _ despite the racy trailer featuring Melanie Housh of Key Largo saying "I'm gonna get the longest rod and reach out and touch it." Nope, the new series is about one of America's and South Florida's favorite pastimes: fishing. It pits 10 contestants _ eight men and two women from around the country _ against each other in a series of zany angling challenges to win $30,000 and a new truck and the title of Animal Planet's first Top Hooker. But about that title? . . . "It's catchy. It grabs your attention. It gets people watching," acknowledged the show's publicist, Bonita Lynch. The network put out a casting call last summer, and Housh, urged on by a friend, was one of hundreds who responded. "I'm like an adrenaline junkie," she said. Housh, 32, is an 11-year veteran firefighter/paramedic/diver with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. The Homestead, Fla., native and graduate of South Dade High School said she has been fishing and diving with her family since she was a tot _ catching sailfish, cobia and other species on rod-and-reel and diving down to catch lobster and spear hogfish and other quarry. Her audition video for Top Hooker demonstrating her fishing prowess above and below the surface wowed the crew at the Animal Planet. "It was awesome," Lynch said. Along with her fellow competitors, Housh was given a special nickname by the show's producers, "Sexy Spearfisher." Others include Larysa Switlyk, 27, of Sarasota, the "Bowfishing Babe;" Ian Esterhuizen of Trabuco Canyon, Calif., "Beefcake South African;" Kevin Vendituoli of Little Compton, R.I., "Al-lure-ing Lawyer," and Patrick Crawford of Charleston, S.C., "Cocky Captain." Housh said she was at work when she first learned of her new nickname and took some ribbing from her fellow firefighters. However, the "Sexy Spearfisher" didn't actually get to use her talents with a speargun during the various contests on Top Hooker. For example, "we get in a big fish tank at the very start," she said. "You have no rod or tools. We had to catch goldfish with our mouths and spit them into a tank. I'm never gonna live that one down." Other challenges involved sliding down a zip line while trying to net fish and balancing on logs to get to a small fishing platform where the contestant catching the final fish gets eliminated. "There is drama in the very first episode," Housh said. "One of the guys gets hurt really bad after he ran across a log and slipped and nailed his knee against a log. He had to get surgery. I hope they bring him back." In the days leading up to the premiere of Top Hooker, Housh and dad Tim, who works for Miami-Dade County Schools, took a little time off to do what they love best _ fishing and diving in South Florida's offshore waters. Guided by family friend captain Jon Cooper on his 32-foot Contender open-fisherman Dive Version, father and daughter teamed to catch five dolphin to up to about eight pounds in about 1,100 feet of water southeast of Fowey Light. After the dolphin fishing dried up, the party cruised around until they came upon a floating trap buoy with line dangling from it. Instead of trolling past or casting live baits, Cooper and Melanie decided to dive in. "It might be worth it. There could be a wahoo," Cooper told her. The pair donned masks, snorkels and fins and took a large speargun with a line and buoy attached and dropped into the abyss, leaving Tim to drive the boat. The two divers each took a deep breath and plunged about 20 feet below the surface where, to their excitement, they saw two wahoo to about 25 pounds circling the dangling trap line. The duo returned to the surface, and Cooper gave Melanie the gun. With little experience in blue water hunting, she wanted to give it a try. They went back down, and Housh aimed and fired at one of the wahoo. She missed, but inexplicably, the fish swam back toward her, "checking me out," she said. "I was really amped up." But by the time they readied the speargun for another shot, both wahoos were keeping their distance, and the hunters returned to the boat. "She did all the right stuff," Cooper said. "Wahoo have a force field. You go here, he goes there." Housh didn't seem disappointed. "It was cool," she said. "I've never shot at a wahoo." Housh said she thoroughly enjoyed her experience as a contestant on Top Hooker and would like to appear in another reality show _ perhaps Survivor, where she could use her outdoors skills in competition with others. "I'm into anything adventure," she said. "I'd pick up and go in two seconds." ___ ©2013 The Miami Herald Visit The Miami Herald at www.miamiherald.com Distributed by MCT Information Services _____ PHOTOS (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): spearfisher KeyWords:: BC-OTD-SPEARFISHER:MI BC OTD SPEARFISHER MI A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

June 05--SNOW HILL -- The U.S. Department of Labor has called for an investigation of Greene County's Emergency Medical Services. A May 31 letter from the Wage and Hour Division and addressed to Emergency Management Director Randy Skinner states the DOL wants to determine whether the EMS department is in compliance with federal regulations. The investigation will cover a two-year period from the last completed payroll. A meeting is scheduled with the DOL investigator, Zulma Rivera Toler of the New Bern office, on June 24. Skinner, Interim County Manager Richard Hicks, Finance Officer Sandy Barss and possibly Sandra Harrell, accounting technician who works with payroll. A list of records and other information -- including a list of current and former employees, position titles and duties, and original payroll and time records -- is requested to be available at the meeting. Michael D'Aquino of the DOL's Office of Public Affairs said in an email he could only confirm an investigation was being conducted with Greene County's EMS department. He added, "Wage Hour does not disclose the reason for our investigations, but we do conduct both (federally-)directed and complaint-based investigations." Hicks said he believes a complaint was likely filed with the DOL. "You may be perfectly fine," he said, "But I would suspect, they're going to find something. ... So I don't anticipate anything positive from that (meeting)." Low salaries have been a sore but frequently mentioned subject at Board of Commissioners' meetings, mainly because employees have not received a raise in four years. Department of Social Services Director Christy Nash told the board Monday night she has nine positions to fill, and she has lost qualified employees mainly because of low salaries. Skinner said the only complaints he has heard are about low wages. However, Hicks said there have been a number of complaints by employees, particularly concerning flex pay. Flex pay is referred to as "Chinese overtime" by EMS employees in and out of the county, according to former Hookerton EMT Susan Blizzard. Barss said certain employees qualify for flex time instead of overtime for working more than 40 hours a week. "There is an actual formula," she said, "that is in the Fair Labor Standards Law that's how we compute their flex pay." Full-time EMS employees generally work 48 hours and 72 hours a week, alternately. Their monthly pay is determined by dividing the annual salary by 12 months, then determining the weekly and hourly pay. Flex pay divides that hourly pay in half and multiplies it by the number of hours worked over 40. The total is calculated for each week in the month and is added to the regular monthly salary. The amount of hourly flex pay varies depending on the employee's annual salary, but the total pay per hour must be more than minimum wage, Barss said. The amount for overtime pay could be as low as around $3 per hour, according to examples Barss gave. Three requirements must be met to receive flex pay. The employee must have a guaranteed weekly salary, the hours must fluctuate week to week and the regular hourly rate used to determine the half-time overtime rate must be at least minimum wage, which is currently $7.25. Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr. ___ ©2013 The Free Press (Kinston, N.C.) Visit The Free Press (Kinston, N.C.) at www.kinston.com Distributed by MCT Information Services A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

June 03--Logan County Ambulance Director Shane Johnson attended the Tuesday, May 28th fiscal court meeting asking magistrates to choose between painting the county's newest addition to the fleet, or using a wrap, which is very much like a large decal put on at one time like a glove. The county purchased a slightly used ambulance last month to replace an older model that was in need of an overhaul. The new addition needs to match the others in the fleet, with the dark blue striping and glow in the dark decaling. Johnson told the court it was up to them what they wanted to do. He gave quotes for both painting and decaling the ambulance, or going with the wrap technique. "It's really up to you what you want," said Johnson. Magistrates asked Johnson for his opinion. He told them he liked the wrap because it takes a lot less time to repair a problem on the exterior than if it has to be repainted. Johnson added he would much rather have an ambulance out of commission for a couple of days verses a couple of weeks. Painting and decaling would cost approximately $3,435, whereas using the wrap technique would cost $1, 965. Johnson said the wrap technique has come along way since first coming about. The wrap at one time was not worth it, said Johnson, and would peel and bubble up easily, however, now manufacturers have perfected the process and it lasts a lot longer. Magistrates took Johnson's opinion and chose to use the "wrap" technique rather than painting the county's newest ambulance. The Logan County Ambulance Service is managed by Com-Care, Inc.. This is Com-Care's fifth year serving as operator of the service, taking over in May of 2009 after the Commonwealth Health Corporation (CHC) abruptly announced they were leaving as the county's provider after 11 years of service. Com-Care's was the sole bidder for the 2013-2014 fiscal year, which came with an increase of five and a half percent compared to last fiscal year. President Jim Dukes explained the reason was due to Medicare cuts, which he says are hitting all medical service providers hard. Com-Care's bid was $172,992, approximately $9,000 more than last fiscal year. ___ ©2013 the News-Democrat & Leader (Russellville, Ky.) Visit the News-Democrat & Leader (Russellville, Ky.) at www.newsdemocratleader.com Distributed by MCT Information Services A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

June 02--Disregard the double-entendre name of Animal Planet's new, eight-part competition reality series premiering Sunday. Top Hooker might be about the world's oldest profession, but it's not what you think -- despite the racy trailer featuring Melanie Housh of Key Largo saying "I'm gonna get the longest rod and reach out and touch it." Nope, the new series is about one of America's and South Florida's favorite pastimes: fishing. It pits 10 contestants -- eight men and two women from around the country -- against each other in a series of zany angling challenges to win $30,000 and a new truck and the title of Animal Planet's first Top Hooker. But about that title ... "It's catchy. It grabs your attention. It gets people watching," acknowledged the show's publicist, Bonita Lynch. The network put out a casting call last summer, and Housh, urged on by a friend, was one of hundreds who responded. "I'm like an adrenaline junkie," she said. Housh, 32, is an 11-year veteran firefighter/paramedic/diver with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. The Homestead native and graduate of South Dade High School said she has been fishing and diving with her family since she was a tot -- catching sailfish, cobia and other species on rod-and-reel and diving down to catch lobster and spear hogfish and other quarry. Her audition video for Top Hooker demonstrating her fishing prowess above and below the surface wowed the crew at the Animal Planet. "It was awesome," Lynch said. Along with her fellow competitors, Housh was given a special nickname by the show's producers, "Sexy Spearfisher." Others include Larysa Switlyk, 27, of Sarasota, the "Bowfishing Babe;" Ian Esterhuizen of Trabuco Canyon, Calif., "Beefcake South African;" Kevin Vendituoli of Little Compton, R.I., "Al-lure-ing Lawyer," and Patrick Crawford of Charleston, S.C., "Cocky Captain." Housh said she was at work when she first learned of her new nickname and took some ribbing from her fellow firefighters. However, the "Sexy Spearfisher" didn't actually get to use her talents with a speargun during the various contests on Top Hooker. For example, "we get in a big fish tank at the very start," she said. "You have no rod or tools. We had to catch goldfish with our mouths and spit them into a tank. I'm never gonna live that one down." Other challenges involved sliding down a zip line while trying to net fish and balancing on logs to get to a small fishing platform where the contestant catching the final fish gets eliminated. "There is drama in the very first episode," Housh said. "One of the guys gets hurt really bad after he ran across a log and slipped and nailed his knee against a log. He had to get surgery. I hope they bring him back." In the days leading up to the premiere of Top Hooker, Housh and dad Tim, who works for Miami-Dade County Schools, took a little time off to do what they love best -- fishing and diving in South Florida's offshore waters. Guided by family friend captain Jon Cooper on his 32-foot Contender open-fisherman Dive Version, father and daughter teamed to catch five dolphin to up to about eight pounds in about 1,100 feet of water southeast of Fowey Light. After the dolphin fishing dried up, the party cruised around until they came upon a floating trap buoy with line dangling from it. Instead of trolling past or casting live baits, Cooper and Melanie decided to dive in. "It might be worth it. There could be a wahoo," Cooper told her. The pair donned masks, snorkels and fins and took a large speargun with a line and buoy attached and dropped into the abyss, leaving Tim to drive the boat. The two divers each took a deep breath and plunged about 20 feet below the surface where, to their excitement, they saw two wahoo to about 25 pounds circling the dangling trap line. The duo returned to the surface, and Cooper gave Melanie the gun. With little experience in blue water hunting, she wanted to give it a try. They went back down, and Housh aimed and fired at one of the wahoo. She missed, but inexplicably, the fish swam back toward her, "checking me out," she said. "I was really amped up." But by the time they readied the speargun for another shot, both wahoos were keeping their distance, and the hunters returned to the boat. "She did all the right stuff," Cooper said. "Wahoo have a force field. You go here, he goes there." Housh didn't seem disappointed. "It was cool," she said. "I've never shot at a wahoo." Housh said she thoroughly enjoyed her experience as a contestant on Top Hooker and would like to appear in another reality show -- perhaps Survivor, where she could use her outdoors skills in competition with others. "I'm into anything adventure," she said. "I'd pick up and go in two seconds." ___ ©2013 The Miami Herald Visit The Miami Herald at www.miamiherald.com Distributed by MCT Information Services A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

June 02--If you need Western Berks Ambulance Association for emergency or nonemergency medical services, you don't need to ask for the gold standard for assurance of getting top-flight care. The gold star decal displayed on all Western Berks vehicles means it has achieved excellence across a broad array of standards, according to the group that conducts ambulance service inspections for the state Department of Health. Western Berks has been recognized by the Eastern Pennsylvania EMS Council as having achieved its Gold Standard of Excellence for going above and beyond what is required by the Health Department's Bureau of Emergency Medical Services licensure program, said Bonnie S. Page, administrative director of Western Berks Ambulance Association. Western Berks is the first ambulance corps in Berks to be presented with the honor, she said. To attain the status, the nonprofit community-based EMS provider headquartered in West Lawn had to meet specific standards in areas including clinical practices, community outreach, operations, safety, education, recruitment and retention, administration and emergency preparedness, she said. "We will proudly be displaying the Gold Standard of Excellence decal on all of our ambulances," Page said. "It shows our high level of commitment to exemplary performance and customer service." Western Berks Ambulance was founded in 1961 and has a staff of 85 full- and part-time employees and 10 active volunteers. It responds to more than 16,000 emergency and nonemergency calls every year in a response area covering 120 square miles in western Berks. Nonemergency calls include transporting bedridden patients from a rehabilitation facility to a hospital for nonemergency treatment. Contact Steven Henshaw: 610-371-5028 or shenshaw@readingeagle.com. ___ ©2013 the Reading Eagle (Reading, Pa.) Visit the Reading Eagle (Reading, Pa.) at readingeagle.com Distributed by MCT Information Services A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

Further to the news that the possible visit by health managers in June to the USA has been cancelled (Relief as medics scrap 'ill- advised' visit to US, Mercury, May 20). This is good news in itself, but surely some questions still need to be raised and answered. 1) As a public body, how much - however small in regard of the overall city clinical commissioning group (CCG) budget - did the outside consultant, Dick Stockford, cost? 2) What benefits would such a trip be thought to offer to the health community? 3) Finally, why was this item discussed in a private session of the main governing body of the city CCG? We know the city CCG wishes to bury this item without further discussion but surely the public has a right to know from a public body that a full and open policy is in place for such matters and that total transparency is at the heart of how the CCG operates. Or is this the beginnings of city CCG plc? We await the reply - or will the silence be deafening? Paul Whalen, Leicester. A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

May 30--CLEARWATER -- A long-awaited report aimed at calming Pinellas County's long-brewing emergency medical service battle was released Thursday. Prepared by consultant Fitch and Associates at a cost of nearly $300,000, the report doesn't recommend going to extremes to keep the county's "world-class" EMS system from going broke. Instead, the report suggests keeping things the same and saving money by fine-tuning. Cumulatively, those changes could save the county $6.3 million a year, according to the report. "[The report] indicated that it's a high-performing, clinically strong system," said Bruce Moeller, director of Pinellas County Public Safety Services. "There are a couple of places where there was excess capacity in the system." For years, Pinellas' EMS system has pitted cities against the county, which has been trying to reduce the amount of money it spends on emergency response vehicles. This year, the county has about $45 million budgeted for EMS, distributed among 18 separate fire districts and the private SunStar ambulance company. Some county officials have long been calling for an EMS overhaul. Supporters of such an overhaul say the standard practice of sending a fire truck in addition to an ambulance in response to all 911 calls was excessive and could stand to be cut. Critics of the practice complained that county EMS resources were being wasted responding to nonemergency medical calls, such as people with digestive problems or stubbed toes. Of the 140,000 911 calls Pinellas gets each year, about 14,000 were classified as "falls" and "sick persons." In January, the Pinellas County Commission voted to send only an ambulance to those low-priority calls but agreed to notify fire departments in those cases, giving them the option of sending units themselves. The decision sparked criticism from local cities and fire departments and the threat of a lawsuit from the City of St. Petersburg. Municipalities and fire departments argued that fire trucks often beat ambulances to the scene, that dispatchers don't always know whether a call is a true medical emergency and that not sending fire trucks to every call would mean cutting firefighters. The Fitch report recommends reducing staffing at night, when there are fewer calls, and using fire departments as the primary agencies responding to low-priority medical calls. Shortly after the commission's decision, state Sen. Jack Latvala threatened to file legislation creating an agency that would yank EMS oversight out of the county's hands. The commission ultimately took the cuts off the table until the Fitch report was released. County officials will now review the report and begin discussing ways to trim costs -- decisions that are overdue and badly needed, said Commissioner Janet Long, a critic of what she characterizes as excesses in the EMS system. "This issue has been percolating for 30 years or more," Long said. "I'm hoping that there's going to be some pathway to finding an avenue for some sustainability." Moeller said the county's EMS Special Committee expects to talk about the report June 24th, and the county commission is likely to tackle it July 19th. kbradshaw@tampatrib.com (727) 215-7999 ___ ©2013 the Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Fla.) Visit the Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Fla.) at www.tampatrib.com Distributed by MCT Information Services A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

May 31--David Emerson's win May 20 was better than playing a lottery. He attributes his good fortune to employees of Yellow Ambulance, Owensboro firefighters and the medical staff of Owensboro Health Regional Hospital. On Thursday morning, paramedic Danny Yonts of Greenville and Matt Kamuf of Owensboro gathered in Emerson's kitchen for a reunion. "I wanted to thank them for what they did for me," Emerson said. "Today is my 54th wedding anniversary, and I wouldn't be here if not for them." Emerson, his wife and grandson were spreading mulch that day in his front yard when he halted his work and sat down on the front porch. His wife, Mary Ruth, asked him if he wasn't feeling well. He told her his chest hurt "all over." She immediately called 911, and within several minutes, there was an ambulance and firetruck at their front door. "They were here in no time," Mary Ruth Emerson said. "Never saw four men so professional." Emerson, 73, went into cardiac arrest when Yonts and Kamuf put him in the ambulance. "When they closed the door, the lights went out, and I didn't wake up until 10 that night," Emerson said. What happened in the ambulance before Emerson arrived at the hospital is what saved his life. "They shocked me seven times," Emerson said. Yonts said after each shock from a defibrillator, Emerson's pulse would come back briefly, but after the seventh charge, he stabilized. "We didn't do anything anyone else (Yellow Ambulance paramedic or EMT) wouldn't have done," Yonts said. "It just wasn't his time." Emerson also thinks divine providence had a hand in his recovery. In 37 years, Yonts said he's only seen three people survive after a situation similar to Emerson's. "It's abnormal for someone to come back like that," Yonts said. "The Lord was with him that day." Dinah Chapman, public events coordinator at Yellow Ambulance, said the medical team rarely gets feedback from patients and that it was nice that Emerson wanted to meet the men who helped save his life. "Few walk out of the hospital who were in his (Emerson) shape," said Jamie Hardin, director of Yellow Ambulance. "The right thing was done at the right moment, according to the reports I've read," on Emerson, Hardin said. "They (Yonts and Kamuf) didn't give up," he said. Firefighters Josh Lashbrook and Luke Cecil also contributed to Emerson's survival. One firefighter assisted in the ambulance, and the other drove the vehicle to the hospital with Mary Ruth Emerson in the front seat with him. "We often work with the fire department. It's good to have extra sets of hands," Yonts said. Kamuf and Yonts don't work together often, but Yonts was glad Kamuf was with him on that day. "Matt knows his stuff," Yonts said. Since Emerson's heart attack, he's had some blockage taken care of. "I'm perfectly normal, but that's questionable," Emerson said with a grin. The only residual effect is a sore chest "on the inside," Emerson said. "It it a good hurt, though. Without them, I wouldn't be feeling anything at all." Suzi Bartholomy, 691-7293, sbartholomy@messenger-inquirer.com ___ ©2013 the Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, Ky.) Visit the Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, Ky.) at www.messenger-inquirer.com Distributed by MCT Information Services A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

May 31--Lifesaving aid for people injured off the beaten path or in crowded areas is just a bicycle ride away with the Madison Fire Department's new EMS Bike Unit. The six-bike unit -- three teams of two riders each -- will roll out in full force along with other bicyclists participating in Sunday's Ride the Drive event Downtown. While two of the EMS teams ride along with cyclists in high-traffic areas, the third team will be at Brittingham Park to share information with the public about the program, said paramedic and training officer Fiona Thompson. In the past, paramedics used their own bikes at special events, such as the Madison Marathon, and had to tote large fanny packs containing limited medical equipment and supplies around their waists or over their shoulders, Thompson said, adding, "It was uncomfortable for them." The new Trek bikes are specially designed for use by paramedics and equipped with rear bike bags and panniers containing lifesaving equipment. One bike on each two-person team will have an automated external defibrillator used to treat people in cardiac arrest. The bike will have a small oxygen tank and other equipment to assist with breathing, and trauma supplies and medications for treating conditions ranging from allergic reactions to drug overdoses. Other supplies carried by the bike teams include IV equipment, collars for immobilizing people with spinal injuries, tourniquets to stop bleeding and triage tags in the case of mass casualties. Riders also have special radio harnesses. Each team will be supported by an ambulance, which will transport patients if needed, Thompson said. "The idea is we can get into crowded areas," she said, adding the bike teams can get to patients faster than paramedics on foot and can carry more lifesaving equipment. "If there's a serious trauma, they're able to start an IV to keep the patient from going in to shock." So far, 20 of the department's 96 paramedics have received bike unit training, including how to maneuver the bicycles. "We want to lead by example," Thompson said, by always wearing helmets and riding safely. The unit also will play a role in public relations for the department. EMS bike units are becoming increasingly popular with departments across the country, Thompson said. Division Chief Richard Kinkade, who oversees the department's EMS operations and proposed creating the bike unit, said costs included about $6,600 for the bikes and $1,500 for the bags. The bike teams will be used primarily for special events, including the Taste of Madison, and the Rhythm and Booms and Elver Park fireworks. When the EMS teams aren't out on the bikes, the department is able to use them for other purposes, Kinkade said, adding that chiefs have already ridden them to meetings instead of driving a vehicle. ___ ©2013 The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.) Visit The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.) at www.wisconsinstatejournal.com Distributed by MCT Information Services A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

May 30--Amid concerns that STAR Flight is being underused, Travis County officials have asked Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services to review why a ground ambulance was dispatchedinstead of a helicopter to take patients to the hospital in a handful of incidents. Danny Hobby, who runs emergency services for the county, said the reviews could show that using a ground ambulance was the best way to take patients to the hospital but that EMS officials need to make sure each response was appropriate. The city of Austin runs EMS, but the county annually funds part of the agency to provide ambulance services outside city limits. The county's requests come as city and county officials grapple with how to best expand EMS services to county residents. Ernie Rodriguez, who heads EMS for the city, said he doesn't know of any situations in which STAR Flight, which provides air ambulance service for the agency, should have been called but was not. The EMS medical director's office reviews any issues presented to the agency, officials said. However, the office's findings will not be released, they said, citing a section of the state's health and safety code relating to the confidential communications of emergency medical services. Though statistics are not tracked on how many times STAR Flight was deployed in the city versus the county, the helicopter is primarily used outside of city limits, STAR Flight program manager Casey Ping said. STAR Flight has flown patients in the county and the city about 600 times since fiscal 2009, according to county data, with the number of flights dropping slightly over the years. In fiscal 2009, STAR Flight took patients about 170 times. In 2010, there were about 160 such trips, about 130 in 2011 and 120 in 2012. According to emails between county and EMS officials obtained by the American-Statesman, Ping aired concerns to EMS medical director Paul Hinchey and other EMS and county officials in February about "multiple cases" in which he said STAR Flight had responded to a call and was overhead when it was canceled. Meanwhile, he said, additional ambulances were requested or it took an ambulance a long time to get to the hospital. The county has made written requests to the city to review six incidents or issues regarding what resources were used to respond to a call,Ping said. One such incident, Hobby said, was a lightning strike in Bee Cave on April 29 that injured three people. Medics took the three patients, two in critical condition, to University Medical Center Brackenridge, about 30 minutes away not accounting for traffic. He wondered why multiple EMS units stationed in the county were dispatched to respond to the call when STAR Flight could have been used. EMS officials said they could not comment on the specific incidents the county raised questions about, but Rodriguez said the agency constantly reflects on what's best for patients, including whether they would have benefited from using STAR Flight. "Before we fly a lot of helicopters over residences and city streets, we have to be very careful about what the benefit is to the patient," Rodriguez said. "A lot of times panic will dictate that we should use a helicopter, but medical judgment will show that there's very little benefit in flying a patient." Ping, among others, has expressed concerns that STAR Flight should have been used instead of ambulances to take patients to the hospital. In early February, Ping received an email from a STAR Flight paramedic wondering why it took 45 minutes to get a baby in serious condition to Dell Children's Medical Center. Austin-Travis County EMS sent medics to the baby's home at 5:11 p.m., according to the email, which doesn't specify a date. When medics arrived, the baby's condition was a "priority 1 trauma," the email says. They left the home about 20 minutes after getting there, and 25 minutes later pulled into the hospital, where a trauma team took over. Considering rush-hour traffic, the STAR Flight paramedic asked the responding EMS medics why they hadn't requested the helicopter, according to the email. They said it was because the computer-aided dispatch system EMS uses wouldn't let them since it calculated the transport time -- the time it takes medics to arrive at a scene -- at less than 20 minutes. In asking several EMS officials to review the incident, Ping said he was most concerned by "the perceived comments about what authority ATCEMS personnel have or do not have to make transport decisions. This is not the first time we have been told they aren't allowed to request STAR Flight." Jasper Brown, an acting assistant chief for EMS, said that the system recommends STAR Flight respond to calls flagged as having the highest and second-highest priorities if the closest ambulance is more than 20 minutes away from the scene of the call. But once medics arrive at the scene, they can request STAR Flight regardless of the call priority, Brown said, a decision that's based on the patient's medical condition, among other factors. Tony Marquardt, president of the Austin-Travis County EMS Association, said it's "preposterous" to think the agency would use STAR Flight as a first response unit, saying it's a terrible financial decision that could send patients into medical bankruptcy. "It's a very expensive solution to a problem that's been created by not giving us our resources," Marquardt said, referring to an ambulance service expansion that the county has delayed funding. A STAR Flight trip costs $3,400 plus $85 per loaded mile for Travis County residents and $7,500 plus $85 per loaded mile for people who don't live in the county, Ping said. Insurance could cover those costs, he said, or patients can set up a payment plan, with some paying $20 per month. In an April email to county officials, Ping criticizes how existing resources are being used to respond to calls, saying it seems hard to defend spending millions on more ground ambulances when "we can't use the resources we already have." ___ ©2013 Austin American-Statesman, Texas Visit Austin American-Statesman, Texas at www.statesman.com Distributed by MCT Information Services A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

May 30--Amid concerns that STAR Flight is being underused, Travis County officials have asked Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services to review why a ground ambulance was dispatchedinstead of a helicopter to take patients to the hospital in a handful of incidents. Danny Hobby, who runs emergency services for the county, said the reviews could show that using a ground ambulance was the best way to take patients to the hospital but that EMS officials need to make sure each response was appropriate. The city of Austin runs EMS, but the county annually funds part of the agency to provide ambulance services outside city limits. The county's requests comes as city and county officials grapple with how to best expand EMS services to county residents. Ernie Rodriguez, who heads EMS for the city, said he doesn't know of any situations in which STAR Flight, which provides air ambulance service for the agency, should have been called but was not. The EMS medical director's office reviews any issues presented to the agency, officials said. However, the office's findings will not be released, they said, citing a section of the state's health and safety code relating to the confidential communications of emergency medical services. Though statistics are not tracked on how many times STAR Flight was deployed in the city versus the county, the helicopter is primarily used outside of city limits, STAR Flight program manager Casey Ping said. STAR Flight has flown patients in the county and the city about 600 times since fiscal 2009, according to county data, with the number of flights dropping slightly over the years. In fiscal 2009, STAR Flight took patients about 170 times. In 2010, there were about 160 such trips, about 130 in 2011 and 120 in 2012. According to emails between county and EMS officials obtained by the American-Statesman, Ping aired concerns to EMS medical director Paul Hinchey and other EMS and county officials in February about "multiple cases" in which he said STAR Flight had responded to a call and was overhead when it was canceled. Meanwhile, he said, additional ambulances were requested or it took an ambulance a long time to get to the hospital. The county has made written requests to the city to review six incidents or issues regarding what resources were used to respond to a call,Ping said. One such incident, Hobby said, was a lightning strike in Bee Cave on April 29 that injured three people. Medics took the three patients, two in critical condition, to University Medical Center Brackenridge, about 30 minutes away not accounting for traffic. He wondered why multiple EMS units stationed in the county were dispatched to respond to the call when STAR Flight could have been used. EMS officials said they could not comment on the specific incidents the county raised questions about, but Rodriguez said the agency constantly reflects on what's best for patients, including whether they would have benefited from using STAR Flight. "Before we fly a lot of helicopters over residences and city streets, we have to be very careful about what the benefit is to the patient," Rodriguez said. "A lot of times panic will dictate that we should use a helicopter, but medical judgment will show that there's very little benefit in flying a patient." Ping, among others, have expressed concerns that STAR Flight should have been used instead of ambulances to take patients to the hospital. In early February, Ping received an email from a STAR Flight paramedic wondering why it took 45 minutes to get a baby in serious condition to Dell Children's Medical Center. Austin-Travis County EMS sent medics to the baby's home at 5:11 p.m., according to the email, which doesn't specify a date. When medics arrived, the baby's condition was a "priority 1 trauma," the email says. They left the home about 20 minutes after getting there, and 25 minutes later pulled into the hospital, where a trauma team took over. Considering rush-hour traffic, the STAR Flight paramedic asked the responding EMS medics why they hadn't requested the helicopter, according to the email. They said it was because the computer-aided dispatch system EMS uses wouldn't let them since it calculated the transport time -- the time it takes medics to arrive at a scene -- at less than 20 minutes. In asking several EMS officials to review the incident, Ping said he was most concerned by "the perceived comments about what authority ATCEMS personnel have or do not have to make transport decisions. This is not the first time we have been told they aren't allowed to request STAR Flight." Jasper Brown, an acting assistant chief for EMS, said that the system recommends STAR Flight respond to calls flagged as having the highest and second-highest priorities if the closest ambulance is more than 20 minutes away from the scene of the call. But once medics arrive at the scene, they can request STAR Flight regardless of the call priority, Brown said, a decision that's based on the patient's medical condition, among other factors. Tony Marquardt, president of the Austin-Travis County EMS Association, said it's "preposterous" to think the agency would use STAR Flight as a first response unit, saying it's a terrible financial decision that could send patients into medical bankruptcy. "It's a very expensive solution to a problem that's been created by not giving us our resources," Marquardt said, referring to an ambulance service expansion that the county has delayed funding. A STAR Flight trip costs $3,400 plus $85 per loaded mile for Travis County residents and $7,500 plus $85 per loaded mile for people who don't live in the county, Ping said. Insurance could cover those costs, he said, or patients can set up a payment plan, with some paying $20 per month. In an April email to county officials, Ping criticizes how existing resources are being used to respond to calls, saying it seems hard to defend spending millions on more ground ambulances when "we can't use the resources we already have." ___ ©2013 Austin American-Statesman, Texas Visit Austin American-Statesman, Texas at www.statesman.com Distributed by MCT Information Services A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

SAN JOSE, Calif., May 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Sanmina Corporation (Nasdaq: SANM), a leading integrated manufacturing solutions company making some of the world's most complex and innovative optical, electronic and mechanical products, today announced that its Guadalajara, Mexico operations are the recipient of two of the country's most prestigious corporate social responsibility (CSR) awards. These awards include the Empresa Incluyente Gilberto Rincon Gallardo Award and the Mexican Center for Philanthropy Socially Responsible Business Distinction Award. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110707/SF30965LOGO) "Sanmina has a strong and impressive legacy of treating its employees with great dignity and encouraging innovative thinking and collaboration among its workforce," said Jaime Zuniga Hernandez, Federal Labor Representative of Jalisco State. "Sanmina continues to be a leader in corporate social responsibility programs and outreach in Jalisco State, and we look forward to future contributions to the community." The Empresa Incluyente Gilberto Rincon Gallardo Award is sponsored by the Mexican government and recognizes companies with a proven commitment to corporate social responsibility. The award is focused on preventing discrimination, and encourages companies to have inclusive work practices directed towards individuals with disabilities or other social and medical challenges. The Mexican Center for Philanthropy ("Centro Mexicano para la Filantropia") is a non-profit association that promotes philanthropy and social responsibility in Mexico with a focus on community development. Each year the organization recognizes companies that have demonstrated responsible corporate ethics and governance practices as well as dedication to improving social and environmental landscapes in areas where the company operates. "We are deeply honored to receive recognition for our efforts in making a difference in our community," said Javier Carral, Executive Vice President of Sanmina's Mexico Operations. "Without question Sanmina's employees are the cornerstone of our business, and we are proud to offer employment and advanced opportunities to our employees and people with disabilities or other challenges. At Sanmina, we are committed to being a socially responsible company and contributing to the success of our employees and the community." Sanmina's Guadalajara, Mexico operations produce a broad range of products for the communications networks, medical, industrial, multimedia and automotive markets. Products include complex communications infrastructure and medical equipment, gaming systems and advanced automotive electronics. About SanminaSanmina Corporation is a leading integrated manufacturing solutions provider serving the fastest-growing segments of the global Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) market. Recognized as a technology leader, Sanmina provides end-to- end manufacturing solutions, delivering superior quality and support to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) primarily in the communications networks, defense and aerospace, industrial and semiconductor systems, medical, multimedia, computing and storage, automotive and clean technology sectors. Sanmina has facilities strategically located in key regions throughout the world. More information regarding the company is available at http:// www.sanmina.com. Sanmina Safe Harbor StatementThe foregoing, including the discussion regarding the Company's future prospects, contains certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including uncertainties associated with economic conditions in the electronics industry, particularly in the principal industry sectors served by the Company, changes in customer requirements and in the volume of sales principal customers, the ability of Sanmina to effectively assimilate acquired businesses and achieve the anticipated benefits of its acquisitions, and competition and technological change. The Company's actual results of operations may differ significantly from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements as a result of these and other factors, including factors set forth in our Company's Annual and quarterly reports filed with the Securities Exchange Commission. SOURCE Sanmina Corporation Originally published by Sanmina Corporation. © 2013 PRNewswire. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved. A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

May 26--LOUISVILLE -- Until recently, there were just three emergency response agencies in Colorado with the prestigious "gold standard of excellence" from the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services. With the Louisville Fire Department joining that elite group earlier this month, make it four. Chief Tim Parker said the exhaustive, year-long process to getting CAAS' nod of approval -- which included completely opening up the department's books and making available employees to speak with evaluators -- was "tough" but worth it. The areas CAAS assessed included Louisville Fire's training practices, fleet maintenance, billing systems, quality assurance and response times. "Accreditation is the only way to measure your system against what the industry expects," Parker said. "The process didn't allow us to just pick and choose what we wanted -- it required us to meet national standards." CAAS, an independent Glenview, Ill.-based organization, was formed 20 years ago to establish a comprehensive series of standards for the ambulance service industry. Louisville Fire Deputy Chief Michael Schick said the evaluators who visited Louisville for two days in March dug deep into department records and ran its protocols through the wringer. They checked to see which personnel had proper and up-to-date certification and whether leadership from the department's medical director was effective. They even tried to determine if Louisville Fire monitored the temperature of medicines on board its two ambulances. (It does.) "We promised best-in-class service for our citizens and this is an objective way to measure that," he said. "We can demonstrate that we've exceeded expectations as a transport agency and an emergency medical services provider." Schick said Louisville exceeds the national standard for response time, executing 90 percent or more calls of service in 7 1/2 minutes or less. The national standard is responding to 90 percent or more calls within eight minutes. The accreditation is all the more impressive when you consider the size of the Louisville Fire Department -- with 16 career employees and around 80 volunteers -- and the fact that it was contracting out its ambulance service to an outside company as recently as five years ago, said Scott Vivier, the EMS chief for the Henderson, Nev. fire department and one of the site reviewers who visited Louisville. "For a small department, it was clear they had invested the time and effort into this," Vivier said. "They had a fantastic program and there were no deficiencies. They were in full compliance with all the standards." Louisville Fire Department responds to nearly 1,600 calls a year, with 800 to 900 of those being ambulance calls. Dr. Richard Henderson, Vivier's colleague in the evaluation of Louisville's ambulance service, said the quality of the department's medical records and level of medical care were "among the best I've ever seen in all my visits." "It shows real commitment by the leadership and real buy-in by the rank and file," he said. "It's a top-notch organization that we were very impressed with." According to Carl Wangman, accreditation process manager for CAAS, out of 15,000 licensed ambulance agencies in the United States, only 160 of them have earned CAAS accreditation. He said it's "quite remarkable" that a small operation like the Louisville Fire Department was able to do so. "They are extremely well organized," Wangman said. The accreditation lasts for three years. Contact Camera Staff Writer John Aguilar at 303-473-1389 or aguilarj@dailycamera.com. Follow on Twitter @abuvthefold ___ ©2013 the Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.) Visit the Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.) at www.dailycamera.com Distributed by MCT Information Services A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

May 25--ABINGDON, Va. -- Seen from above, the top of the ambulance could almost be an American flag flapping in the breeze. And in the rear-view mirror, a motorist pulling out of the way for the vehicle would find themselves looking into a sea of red, white and blue. Abingdon Ambulance Service's new ambulance pays tribute to service men and women, with a full-body paint job depicting patriotic scenes. "We had this new ambulance and [the administration] was trying to come up with an idea to bring attention to some worthy cause," said Kevin Martin, spokesperson for Abingdon Ambulance Service. "We wanted to honor the military in some way." The top, front and bottom sides of the truck are emblazoned with the American flag. One side of the truck features photographs of Marines participating in a 21-gun salute and the other side features war ships, helicopters and tanks, which represent equipment used by all branches of the military, Martin said. The back doors pay tribute to those military service members who are missing in action, and to the Wounded Warrior Project. The truck has personalized American flag plates with "ARMDSVC" as the license number. On one side, Isaiah 41:10, which is Bible scripture that cautions the reader to not be afraid because God is with them, is printed. "It was kept a secret until it showed up in the garage," Martin said of the design. He said the ambulance had been ordered and built, but was just waiting for a paint job until the right idea came along. It came back from the design shop last week. As of Thursday, the ambulance had made three public appearances, Martin said. "All the people I've talked to have been thrilled with it," he said, adding that he's been asked to take it to veterans events. The ambulance will make another appearance Monday morning, during Marion's Memorial Day parade, which starts at 10 a.m. on Main Street. "We wanted to bring honor and attention to those that have served in the past," Martin said. arobinson@bristolnews.com, 276-791-5459 ___ ©2013 the Bristol Herald Courier (Bristol, Va.) Visit the Bristol Herald Courier (Bristol, Va.) at www2.tricities.com Distributed by MCT Information Services A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

May 24--GLASGOW -- Barren-Metcalfe Emergency Medical Services Director Mike Swift, left, talks to Hart County EMT Reggie Pettit, center, and Hart County paramedic Leo Childress Thursday morning during a breakfast in honor of EMS Week at the T.J. Health Pavilion Community Center. EMS employees from Barren, Metcalfe and Hart counties, fire fighters, police officers and T.J. Health Pavilion employees took part in the breakfast, a celebration of emergency responders and medical personnel. Read more of this story in the print or digital Glasgow Daily Times. http://glasgowdailytimes.cnhi.newsmemory.com/ ___ ©2013 the Glasgow Daily Times (Glasgow, Ky.) Visit the Glasgow Daily Times (Glasgow, Ky.) at www.glasgowdailytimes.com Distributed by MCT Information Services A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article

May 24--MERIDIAN -- Metro Ambulance paramedic Kevin Tindol shed 27 pounds in eight weeks to win the department's "Biggest Loser" challenge. "I looked at some of the patients we pick up who have health problems because of their weight and felt like we should do something to promote health and fitness in our department," Tindol said. Thursday afternoon Tindol was awarded a Certificate of Achievement by Anytime Fitness General Manager April Foley for his accomplishment. Tindol put up $300 of his own money for the grand prize and approached Anytime Fitness, which offered to donate a year's membership to the first and second place winners, along with a gift basket for the third place winner. "Since I won, I don't have to pay the $300," Tindol said laughing. Twelve contestants entered the challenge, with all but three dropping out before the eight week period was up, Tindol said. Paramedic Robby Richardson took second place in the contest after losing 21.8 pounds, and third place went to James Blackwell, who dropped 15.5 pounds, Foley said. Tindol said he lost weight through a combination of diet and exercise. "I eat six small meals and day, drink protein shakes and lift weights," Tindol said. "I plan to keep on going. My goal is to lose 100 pounds even, hopefully by the end of the summer." Anytime Fitness is open 24/7 and is a popular workout spot for those like Tindol who do shift work, Foley said, adding that the main reason people join is to lose weight. "The whole point in being in a fitness facility is that you are around like-minded people working towards the same goal," Foley said. "It really helps motivate you." ___ ©2013 The Meridian Star (Meridian, Miss.) Visit The Meridian Star (Meridian, Miss.) at meridianstar.com Distributed by MCT Information Services A service of YellowBrix, Inc. View the full article