Anne Arundel Fire News: MAY 15-21, 2016 IS THE 42ND ANNUAL NATIONAL EMS WEEK

MAY 15-21, 2016 IS THE 42ND ANNUAL NATIONAL EMS WEEK

In 1973, President Gerald Ford authorized EMS Week to celebrate Emergency Medical Services (EMS) practitioners and the important work they do in our nation's communities. Back then, EMS was a new profession, and EMS practitioners had only just started to be recognized as a critical component of emergency medicine and the public health safety net.

A lot has changed since then. EMS is now firmly established as an essential public function and a vital component of the medical care continuum. On any given day, EMS practitioners help save lives

by responding to medical emergencies, including heart attack, difficulty breathing, falls or accidents, drowning, cardiac arrest, stroke, drug overdose or acute illness. EMS may provide both basic and advanced medical care at the scene of an emergency and on the way to a hospital. EMS practitioners care for their patients' medical needs and show caring and compassion to their patients in their most difficult moments.

The Anne Arundel County Fire Department provides EMS services to those living, working, and visiting Anne Arundel County.

Some Fast Facts About the Anne Arundel County Fire Department:

The Department responded to more than 80,000 incidents in 2015. An estimated 85% of them had an EMS component.
Anne Arundel County Paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians transported 46,873 patients in 2015.
The Department is comprised of 812 career uniformed members and 753 riding volunteers.
The Department has 318 Advanced Life Support (ALS) providers (Paramedics and Cardiac Rescue Technicians). Thirty-two of them are volunteers.
The Department currently has 24 personnel in paramedic school. Thirteen will graduate this month, and 11 will graduate in May of 2017.
Many of the paramedic students attend the Anne Arundel Community College, where the program takes two years to complete and a minimum of 61 credit hours.
The Department operates 29 ALS transport units, two ALS engine companies, and 15 Basic Life Support (BLS) transport units. All of the departments engines, trucks and squads are capable of acting as first responders to medical incidents with personnel trained to at least the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) level.

The Fire Service in Anne Arundel County has a long history of providing medical care/first aid. The first Ambulance Services were provided by individual Volunteer Fire Companies throughout the County in the early 1950’s. Some of the early ambulances were the GMC carry all sedans that were converted into ambulances.

After the formation of Charter Government in Anne Arundel County in 1965, The Anne Arundel County Fire Department took over the responsibility for providing Emergency Medical Services. During this period, first aid /medical transports were still accomplished by individual volunteer companies. However, some ambulances (Woodland Beach VFD; Earleigh Heights VFD, Brooklyn Community VFD, Linthicum VFD, Glen Burnie VFD, and the 7th District Rescue Squad) were independently staffed during the day with

career employees trained to the level of advanced first aid who supplemented the volunteer forces. Two of these units (Linthicum and Glen Burnie) ultimately evolved into the first 24 hour round the clock ambulances staffed by shift work career firefighters. This was followed by two additional round the clocks ambulances (Brooklyn and Earleigh Heights) two years later.

As the delivery of fire based Emergency Medical Services continued to evolve in the1970’s, the Fire Department began training personnel to the level of Emergency Medical Technicians in 1972. In the mid-1970’s, the Department formed an Emergency Medical Services Division, and the Department began the transition into the Paramedic age. Three Advanced Life Support (ALS) units, staffed with career personnel trained to the level of Cardiac Rescue Technician, were established at Earleigh Heights, Linthicum, and Glen Burnie. In 1974, the department began to place non-transport paramedic units in service. The first generation of these units was the Ford Torino station wagon;