EMS BUREAU OVERVIEW
Rick Nosek, EMS Coordinator
rnosek@villageofschillerpark.com
"The mission of the EMS bureau is to provide highly skilled, yet compassionate care to the sick and injured, resident and visitor alike; to provide adjunct and direct assistance at the scene of a fire, manmade or natural disaster; to provide public education in areas of medical care..."
Schiller Park has been providing pre-hospital medical care at the paramedic level for over 34 years. The Bureau of EMS consists of the EMS Coordinator, Lieutenant/Paramedics, Firefighter/Paramedics and Civilian Paramedics of the fire department. In addition, the EMS Coordinator serves as the Village Privacy Officer, the Infection Control Officer and on other regional and statewide boards and committees.
The Fire Department’s EMS Bureau currently staffs two advanced life support ambulances, one ALS-Med-Engine and has one reserve ambulance. Our department has been a member of the Northwest Community EMS System since 1977. This was the first EMS System in the State of Illinois and the first multi-community EMS system in the United States. The system provides medical direction to 21 suburban fire departments and 3 private ambulance companies. The EMS System stresses the “team concept” approach to care, where the on-scene paramedics provides treatment to the patient, under standing medical orders and then communicates with the other part of the team in the hospital emergency department. On a typical medical emergency in Schiller Park, anywhere from 3 to 5 paramedics will at the side of the patient. When the paramedics encounter patients who’s primary language is not English, our personnel have the ability to call our translation service to assist in clearly communicating with the patient.
The non-invasive diagnostic medical equipment carried by the Schiller Park paramedics can provide for rapid identification of several life threatening emergencies. The paramedics can measure blood pressure, the oxygen level in the blood, the carbon dioxide being produced by the body and can also monitor for carbon monoxide (a poisonous gas) and other non-invasive procedures. This advanced technology allows the paramedics to perform many of the same initial tests done in the emergency room, thereby reducing the time before definitive care can be administered.
Eleven years ago, Schiller Park became the first community in the area to provide pre-hospital 12-lead ECG monitoring, which is invaluable in the rapid identification of heart attacks. Once we begin monitoring patient’s heart activity, the machine continues to closely monitor for rhythm changes and automatically notifies the paramedic of changes. Today, a patient who suffers from a certain type of heart attack (STEMI) may be transported to a specialty cardiac center, where, if identified in time, the patient has a good chance at not only surviving, but may experience a return to an active lifestyle. Patients whose hearts have stopped (cardiac arrest) also benefit from the team concept approach. Survival rates for those in cardiac arrest are improving. Those patients receive their treatment where they are found. CPR standards recently changed and that along with better treatments give that patient their best chance at survival. Post-arrest hypothermia is also going to be investigated this year. The idea of chilling the brain after surviving a cardiac arrest seems to improve the long-term outcome, by preventing brain swelling.
We now have improved care for brain-attack or stroke patients, where the paramedics will perform a rapid assessment. Patients meeting certain criteria would be transported to a stroke specialty center, rather than the closest hospital. The paramedics also treat and transport severely injured people to specialty trauma centers in the area. The paramedics also encounter many other types of medical emergencies.
Public education is critical is critical in preventing needless death and injury. The bureau offers public CPR classes as just one way of informing the public. EMS related articles are a regular part of the village newsletter. Also, educating village staff is part of our mission. The EMS Coordinator works with the emergency responders to make sure they are safe from infectious diseases. This not only protects them, it also protects the public.
We are also concerned about protecting the privacy of our patients. We follow the rules of the Health Insurance Portability Privacy Act (HIPAA). This law limits the way your medical information may be used. To view the Notice of Privacy please click on the Notice of Privacy link.
If you have any questions about the programs offered by the bureau, please send an e-mail to the EMS Coordinator. He will be happy to assist you. |