F-M AMBULANCE SERVICE VITAL SIGNS Spring 2013 Compassion, Excellence, Community Service Heroes Presented Lifesaving Awards Three heroes were honored on Thursday, January 10, 2013 with Lifesaving Awards from F-M Ambulance Service, the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the ND Peace Officers Association. On December 14, 2012 as Leonard Koble and a friend were walking into the Fargodome to watch an NDSU Bison football game, Leonard s friend said that something was wrong and suddenly collapsed. Koble started CPR and summoned help from others. Duane Stanley, Special Agent with the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and Jason Westphal, Field Coordinator for the Mid-States Organized Crime Crime Information Information Center immediately stopped to help Koble. Stanley and Westphal took over CPR duties and continued until an advanced life support unit from F-M Ambulance Service arrived. Because of the quick actions by the three men, the patient survived and is doing well. Leonard Koble was awarded the F-M Ambulance Service Lifesaving Award, which is given to community members who are instrumental in helping during an emergency. Duane Stanley and Jason Westphal were awarded the Medal of Merit from F-M Ambulance Service, which is given to personnel who are trained in emergency response skills, yet go above and beyond their normal responsibilities while helping others. Stanley was also awarded the Bureau of Criminal Investigation Life Saving Medal and Westphal was awarded the Bureau of Criminal Investigation Citizen Citation for Distinguished Service. The ND Peace Officers Association Lifesaving Award was also presented to Stanley and Westphal. Immediate CPR can dramatically increase a patient s chance of survival during cardiac arrest. Without immediate CPR and the quick response of advanced life support, this patient most likely would not have survived. Winterquist Elected Director-Elect of ND SHRM Stephanie Winterquist, Human Resources Coordinator at F-M Ambulance Service, has been elected to the position of Director-Elect for the North Dakota Society of Human Resource Management (ND SHRM) State Council. The goal of the State Council is to provide leadership, professional development and support ideas to facilitate growth of Human Resources in North Dakota. The Director-Elect role is a 6-year commitment, with two years in the Director-Elect position, two years as Director and then two years as Past-Director. The adventures of ND SHRM can be followed on twitter (@ndshrm) or on Facebook at facebook.com/ndshrm.
Buckle Up with Bucky F-M Ambulance Service along with the Safe Communities Coalition of the Red River Valley and Safe Kids Fargo/Moorhead have joined together to promote Child Passenger Safety through classroom presentations. Paramedic Kristi Engelstad will go to local K 2 classrooms and do a 30-minute presentation on seat belt safety. Engelstad will also bring an ambulance and give the students a short tour. Engelstad will be presenting the Buckle Up with Bucky program, which educates students on important safety rules for riding in the car. The program includes an interactive presentation and video. For a preview, visit the Buckle up with Bucky website at www.buckleupbucky.com. Additionally, activity books may be provided for students while supplies last. To schedule a Buckle Up with Bucky presentation, please contact Kristi at (701) 364-1759 or kristi.engelstad@fmambulance.com F.A.S.T. As you sit down to eat dinner, you notice someone at the table next to you is slurring their speech and holding their head, like they are in pain. Are they having a stroke? Some of the most common signs of a stroke are: Sudden weakness or numbness on one side of the body Sudden confusion or trouble understanding Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes Sudden trouble walking, or loss of balance Sudden severe headache, with no known cause A stroke is a brain attack it occurs when a blood clot blocks an artery, or a blood vessel breaks, interrupting blood flow to the brain. It is very important that you call 9-1-1 immediately if you think someone is experiencing a stroke. It is also very important to note the time that the person last appeared normal (if known). This information is important to healthcare providers, and can affect treatment decisions.
The Clinical Corner What is triage? The word triage is a French word meaning to sort. Basically, triage is being able to sort out who needs immediate help and who can wait during a mass casualty. A mass casualty is any incident in which resources, such as personnel and equipment, are overwhelmed by the number of severity of patients. Mass casualties might be natural disasters (tornados), mass transit accidents (busses, trains), public violence, terrorist attacks, building collapses, airplane crashes, and fires. Triage employs the most efficient use of the available resources and does the greatest good for the greatest number of people. It has proven to save 40% more lives since its inception more than 25 years ago. One of the most well-known methods of triaging is called START triage. START stands for Simple Triage And Rapid Treatment. It was developed jointly by the Newport Beach (CA) Fire and Marine Department and Hoag Hospital. START triage is a standardized method that focuses on always assuming the worst. It is simple and tries to create a minimal amount of stress for responders. With START triage, every patient gets a 60 second (or less) assessment. Responders check for respirations, perfusion status and mental status. They are then put into a color category depending on the severity of their injuries: green patient have minor injuries (care can be delayed), yellow patient need urgent care, red patients need immediate care (life-threatening injuries), and black patient are deceased (no care required). Patients are sorted and grouped by color, and treatment soon follows. Patients are re-triaged as often as necessary. Triage is usually done by some of the first arriving medical personnel. Once the patients are tagged, later responders will know how severely the patient is injured and treat them accordingly. All Walking Wounded No Respirations Position Airway Respiration's 30 Perfusion 2 No Mental Status CAN DO START Triage Guide Respirations Respirations Radial Pulse Absent Cap Refill >2 seconds Under 30/min. Perfusion Yes Can t Follow Simple Commands Over 30/min. Radial Pulse Present Cap Refill < 2 seconds Mental Status Can Follow Simple Commands Welcome to the Team! Welcome to our new employees! Robert Benson Paramedic Thief River Falls Area Ambulance Kelsey Bodvig EMT F-M Ambulance Service Tanner Bombenger EMT F-M Ambulance Service Jeff Hale EMT F-M Ambulance Service Lana Jackson Paramedic F-M Ambulance Service Autumn Nelson EMT F-M Ambulance Service Joey Paul EMT F-M Ambulance Service Jessie Pestel EMT F-M Ambulance Service Jon Peterson Paramedic F-M Ambulance Service Alanna Velo EMT F-M Ambulance Service
Hunter Ambulance Service Gets New Home The Rural Roundup By Brendan Krupich, Outreach Coordinator Hunter Ambulance Service began operations on June 1, 1971. Their 14 volunteer members used a 1970 Cadillac hearse donated by Maynard Lindsay of Page, ND. The ambulance service shared space with many organizations and the city of Hunter in their headquarters at Hunter City Hall for forty one years, from 1971 until the fall of 2012. In December of 2011, Hunter Ambulance Service purchased a building on Main Street that had been a hardware store for many years. They spent the year of 2012 remodeling the building. Changes included a new roof, sidewalk and driveways, as well as insulating the back half and cutting in overhead doors. A kitchen and additional bathrooms were added and they repainted the interior of the building. They also made one office into a sleeping room with a shower. Many squad members and others in the community volunteered their time and talents to help complete the project. In December of 2012 Hunter Ambulance Service moved into their new building on Main Street. If you re ever in the area, stop by the volunteers would be proud to give a tour to anyone that may be interested!
F-M Ambulance Service Paramedic Gets Liver Transplant Cody Kappenman has spent nearly his entire life knowing that someday he would need a liver transplant. When he was first diagnosed with Congenital Hepatic Fibrosis at age 18, he was told that he probably wouldn t need a transplant until he was around age 65. Unfortunately, in December of 2011 Cody became very sick due to his liver issue, and again in December of 2012 he became very ill. A liver transplant was the only way to correct the liver disease, so in August of 2012 Cody and his family began the process to find a match for a transplant. Two of Cody s brothers, Collin and Casey, were donor matches. After more screening, in October of 2012 it was determined that Casey was the best match to donate 60% of his liver to Cody. On December 6, 2012 the transplant team chose a date for the surgery to take place January 3, 2013. Unfortunately, on December 10, 2012, Cody was admitted to Sanford in Fargo for a high fever and headache. After being in Sanford for two days and not getting any better, Cody was flown by Lifeflight to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Fortunately, Cody was well enough for the transplant to take place on the scheduled date of January 3, 2013. The surgery went very well with few complications. Unfortunately, a few days after the surgery, doctors found that Cody was bleeding internally and was septic. After several weeks in and out of the ICU, Cody s health appeared to stabilize. It has been a slow battle for Cody to get healthy, but he has been in good spirits and is determined to get back on the ambulance to help others again soon. Cody has been employed by F-M Ambulance Service since 2008 as a paramedic. He always has a smile on his face and a great attitude, no matter what the situation may be. He has helped save countless lives throughout our community. A spaghetti dinner and silent auction was held on Sunday, March 3, 2013 at the Dilworth Community Center to help raise funds for Cody s medical bills. Cody would like to let everyone who has supported him along this journey how much he appreciates everything that has been done for him. I am so overwhelmed at the number of people who have supported me throughout this whole journey. I wish I could tell each and every one of them how grateful I am. Cody is expecting to come back to work around June as long as everything continues to go smoothly. Everyone at F-M Ambulance Service is excited to have Cody back on the ambulance again soon!
Triage Packs Upgraded F-M Ambulance Service was recently awarded grant funding by the North Dakota Department of Homeland Security to upgrade the current triage packs, triage tags and disaster response kits as well as the disaster response vehicles. The upgraded triage system utilizes triage ribbons and is designed to expedite primary triage by delaying the application of the triage tag until the patient is entering the treatment area. The updated All-Hazards Triage Tags are similar to the previous edition, but with some new additions to encourage re-triaging of the patient and assist with patient accountability. The updated triage system can be found in each of the 13 ambulances as well as the supply truck. Disaster Management Systems Go-Kits were also purchased to help facilitate the management of a mass casualty incident. The Go-Kits are located in each Supervisor vehicle as well as the supply truck. In the near future, the Mobile Command Post, Supply Truck and the Ambus will be outfitted with awnings to help protect staff, responders and equipment from inclement weather. The Ambus may be utilized for rehab situations so having the ability to shelter responders and their equipment from the elements as much as possible is crucial. The Ambus was also outfitted with 2 Stryker Power cots to help expedite the loading and unloading of patients to/from the Ambus as well as decrease the risk of lifting injuries to the responders doing the work. Did You Know Rally in the Valley 2013 was a HUGE success! Thank you to everyone who participated. We had some wonderful presentations, including a hands-on heart and lung lab! Join us in February 2014 for the next Rally in the Valley!
Hands-Only CPR?? CPR instructors at F-M Ambulance Service get a lot of questions about hands-only CPR. A few years ago, the American Heart Association said that in adults, hands-only CPR (rapid, deep presses on the victim s chest until help arrives) works just as well as standard CPR for sudden cardiac arrest in adults. Hands-only CPR is adequate for those people that have a witnessed sudden collapse, since they most likely have some air in their lungs and blood. Compressions help keep that oxygen rich blood flowing to the brain, heart and other organs. But wait don t stop that breathing just yet. Hands-only CPR is talked about during CPR training at F-M Ambulance Service, but breathing is still taught during these courses. Hands-only CPR is not for everyone children who collapse are more likely to have breathing problems, so breathing is especially important for them. That also applies to adults who suffer lack of oxygen from things such as near drowning or a drug overdose. Experts hope that with hands-only CPR, bystanders will now be more willing to jump in and help if they see someone suddenly collapse. They hope the hands-only CPR is simpler and easier to remember, and takes the yuck factor out of CPR. Advanced HAZMAT Course Offered On January 16 and 17, 2013, F-M Ambulance Service offered an Advanced HAZMAT Life Support (AHLS) course to train emergency medical personnel from around the state of North Dakota. The two-day course trained professionals on how to provide expert medical care to victims of hazardous material (HAZMAT) incidents and toxic terrorism. It covered topics such as decontamination, rapid assessment of HAZMAT-exposed patients, antidotes, drug therapy and the establishment of hazmat-response systems in the community. Every day hazardous materials are transported by train or truck in North Dakota and Minnesota, and the number of these shipments is growing. Medical personnel around both states need specialized knowledge of toxic substances to be able to rapidly assess HAZMAT patients, recognize the symptoms of particular toxic substances and immediately give specific antidotes. Whether from chemical spills or acts of terrorism, the threat of HAZMAT exposures to people is at an all-time high, says Dr. Frank Walter, MD/Toxicologist from the University Of Arizona College Of Medicine. AHLS not only enables healthcare professionals to better protect our community, but also protect our first responders and emergency staff, says Dr. Walter. AHLS provides the training needed to be more prepared should tragedy occur. AHLS was developed at The Arizona Emergency Medical Research Center (AEMRC), a Center of Excellence at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, in collaboration with the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology. More than 6,000 emergency medicine professionals are AHLS providers serving their local communities. Twelve members of the F-M Ambulance Service Disaster Team were awarded AHLS certification to make a total of 15 who have successfully completed the course. Staff from Metro Ambulance (Bismarck), Altru Ambulance (Grand Forks), Moorhead Fire Department and Sanford Health also successfully completed the course. The F-M Ambulance Service Disaster Team trains monthly and specializes in emergency medical response to natural disasters, mass casualty incidents and HAZMAT events. Funding for the course was made possible by grants from the North Dakota Department of Homeland Security and Cass County Emergency Management. We hope that you have enjoyed this edition of Vital Signs, a quarterly newsletter distributed by F-M Ambulance. An electronic edition of Vital Signs can be found on our website, www.fmambulance.com. If you have any ideas, questions, or comments about Vital Signs, please contact Kristi at (701) 364-1759, or kristi.engelstad@fmambulance.com.