Department Services
Emergency Medical Services
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is out of hospital health care for patients with real or perceived emergencies. The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Division is headed by our Department Medical Director and the Emergency Medical Services Coordinator. Their responsibilities include administering and overseeing pre-hospital emergency medical care which includes Advanced Life Support (ALS) Engine and Ladder Companies to the citizens and visitors of Davenport. In recent years, the provision of EMS has progressed from an amenity to a citizen required public service. Many municipalities sought the opportunity to develop EMS systems while others had the responsibility of EMS provision thrust upon them. The providers of pre-hospital emergency care across the United States may vary, however, few communities, if any, lack vital emergency medical services at some level; in most communities, this service is provided by the fire department.
The public wants to know that when they dial 911 for a medical emergency that they will be treated quickly by professionals who are knowledgeable in life saving measures.
No other organization, public or private, is capable of providing pre-hospital emergency response as efficiently and effectively as the fire department. Fire department operations are geared to rapid response, whether it is for EMS or fire suppression. Yet in today's environment of increased responsibilities and decreasing budgets, local government and fire department leaders must constantly evaluate and justify current systems and be prepared to propose system design changes to protect the quality of publicly funded fire based EMS.
Historical Timeline of Davenport Fire Department's EMS Program
The Davenport Fire Department responded to over 9398 calls for EMS in the last year with all eight engine companies and one truck company responding as paramedic rigs and the remaining two truck companies responding at the Intermediate Level. The average response time for EMS calls is 3.4 minutes anywhere in the City of Davenport.
Our units are staffed with firefighters cross-trained and certified by the Iowa Department of Public Health, Bureau of Emergency Medical Services. The following are the current medical rescue certifications and the number of personnel at each certification.
First Responder (2) Emergency Medical Technician -Basic (32) Emergency Medical Technician - Intermediate (65) Emergency Medical Technician - Paramedic (41) Click on this link to see the Bureau of EMS's Scope of Practice Document
http://www.idph.state.ia.us/ems/common/pdf/scope_of_practice.pdf
We are authorized by the Iowa Department of Public Health, Bureau of Emergency Medical Services to operate as a Paramedic non-transport service and passed our on-site inspection of all EMS vehicles, equipment, training and emergency medical related records. Iowa law requires all advanced emergency medical services to operate under the medical license of a local physician.
Dr. Walter Bradley, MD serves as the Medical Director for The Davenport Fire Department. Dr Bradley is legally responsible for all
clinical and patient care aspects of our service. Under his medical direction, we provide out- of-hospital emergency medical care at Iowa's highest level of non-transporting certification.
Some of Dr. Bradley's many duties include developing, approving and updating protocols, assessing educational needs, assessing community needs, monitoring and evaluating our personnel and agency performance, and acts as our liaison to the medical community. Dr. Bradley is dedicated, sets high standards and puts in a great deal of time to our service. Under his direction, we provide the high quality emergency medical care the citizens and visitors of Davenport are entitled and accustomed to in their time of need.
We are currently providing advanced medical care procedures at the scene that in the past would have been delayed until the patient arrived in the emergency room. These procedures improve patient outcome by reducing pain, preventing further physical damage and shortening patient recovery time. Paramedics bring advanced medical skills, such as endo-tracheal intubation, medication administration for a variety of conditions, defibrillation and IV therapy into the streets of Davenport.
The Davenport Fire Department provides a rapid response, with highly trained and skilled personnel capable of handling medical emergencies professionally. We recognize that successful outcomes depend on how well we do our job.
Dr. Bradley and the Davenport Fire Department are committed to seek new ways to improve patient care and will continue to work jointly with the medical community to provide the best emergency medical services possible. The City of Davenport can be proud of the Emergency Medical Services it provides to the community and its visitors. Our most important goal continues to be the consistent provision of the finest, most advanced, pre-hospital care. Working with the dedicated men and women of Davenport Fire Department, that goal will not be difficult to achieve.
Responsibilities of EMS ProvidersEMS provider's responsibilities include emergency medical care for the patient and a variety of other responsibilities before, during and after a call for service.
Preparation Preparation includes making sure that inspection and routine maintenance has been completed on the all the EMS equipment. It means restocking medications and intravenous solutions and checking their expiration dates. In addition our providers must be very familiar with:
Response During an emergency response, the EMS provider must remember that personal safety is the number one priority. An injured paramedic or EMT will not be able to assist the victim in their time of need. In addition, early pre-arrival information can dictate the need to request additional resources. Incidents involving multiple victims, hazardous materials, rescue situations, violent individuals, reported use of a weapon are all situations which our personnel are educated to request additional resources.
Patient Assessment and Management Our primary responsibility involves scene size-up and assessment and management of the patient. Davenport Fire Department's EMT's and Paramedics are educated in the most common medical and trauma conditions.
Documentation Maintaining a complete and accurate written report is essential to the flow of patient information, to research efforts, and to the quality improvement of our EMS system.
Additional Responsibilities The role of the EMT and Paramedic involves duties in addition to those associated with emergency response. They may include training civilians in CPR, EMS demonstrations and seminars, teaching, organizing prevention programs and engaging in professional development activities. All involve taking an active role in promoting positive health practices within our community. The concept of providing paramedic care with the quick response team continues to prove it's effectiveness each day. Not only is ALS care initiated sooner from paramedic engine companies but the continium of care is complete from initial assessment to delivery to the emergency department. Many changes have improved prehospital care since the advent of the paramedic engines. Additional equipment and capabilities have been added including pulse oximetry, external cardiac pacing, cricothyrotomy, interosseous infusions, 12 - lead EKG's and our newest addition CO2 monitoring. |
