Are you doing enough to keep your patient warm?
Imagine how cold your run of the mill elderly patient is in the comfort of their own home. Now, envision how chilly they feel wearing only their normal clothes (no coat, generally) when we take them outside on a stair chair or a gurney. Please remember to focus on patient warmth. If you only have two light blankets on your gurney this winter, there’s so much more you could be doing. Here are some tips to consider for patient warmth: Load up on blankets. Bring at least 3 into the home with... read more
Billing Update: MVC's
There are two very important changes to information and patient signatures required on motor vehicle accidents. These will be REQUIRED on every MVA patient, with exception to “Patient Refused All”. 1.) In order to obtain the proper insurance carrier for motor vehicle accidents, documenting the license plate of the vehicle the patient was in at the time of the accident is now required. 2.) Motor vehicle insurance requirements necessitate patient sign a NF-3 for insurance. These have been... read more
Congratulations, Brenden Hoff!
Brenden is now a cleared BLS medic & driver. Be sure to congratulate him when you see him.
All Paramedics Must Review: Intubation and Post-Intubation Care
ALS and RSI Providers- While at the National Association of EMS Physicians Meeting this past week there were a few things that I thought I would share. All are congruent with our current protocols, but at the same time, each of these are quite nuanced. I would strongly encourage you to be familiar with the following as you manage your patients airway, and subsequently their ventilation. I would also hope that at the agency level, you perform focused performance improvement... read more
HVA Members' Class Registration
For ACLS, PALS and EVOC: **New sign up procedure**. Going forward, all registrations for HVA members for these classes will be through Enrollware, the program we use for CPR class registrations. A link will be placed on the intranet page for easy access. Use the promo code HVA member to avoid the payment requirement. The schedule for upcoming classes can be viewed using the link, and is also posted on the training bulletin board. For CPR refresher classes, sign up can continue through ePro at... read more
Promotions: Larry Michael & Matt Jarrett
At the regularly scheduled Board of Directors meeting on Feb 10, Lawrence Michael was promoted to Line Deputy Chief. At the same meeting Matthew Jarrett was promoted to Assistant Chief, Medical Billing Manager. Please join me in congratulating these two individuals on their well-deserved promotions.
Mandatory Training
See the "Training & Education" section to the left for details. Due 12/31/14.
Sepsis Protocol
All providers must review and watch the video. Advisory & Protocol Video read more
Chris O'Brien Promoted to Full-Time Paramedic
Be sure to congratulate Chris O'Brien on his recent promotion to full-time paramedic with us.
Priority 1 Calls
I’ve seen a bit of “drift” occurring that I would like to see adjusted. On arrival at a priority one call the paramedic needs to exit the vehicle, take the primary response bag and go to the patient. The driver should get the monitor and ALS bag and if the FD is already there bring the gurney, as the apparatus driver is supposed to be awaiting the arrival of the ambulance. If the ambulance arrives first, the driver simply brings the monitor and ALS bag to the patient. This process can... read more