Lifesaver Newsletter Volume 2 Issue 1 Homepage Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6

From The Directors’ Desk

Well, four years have passed since I arrived in Florence and we have made quite a few changes. If you remember, there were 14 recommendations in the EMS Master Plan as developed by DMG, Inc. I would like to review these.

Action When Completed
1. Make Improvements to the billing/collection process 2000 & 2002
2. Contracts for a Medical Control Physician 1999
3. Purchase Computers for operations and training purposes 2001
4. Add 8 Paramedic positions 1997
5. Purchase 3 new ambulances 1999
6. Implement Quick Response Vehicles 1999
7. Expand the operations of the West Florence Station 1999
8. Build a new Headquarters building 1999
9. Restructure the department with a new Director position 1998
10. Establish a position for an Operations Manager 1998
11. Decentralize the placement of ambulances 1999 & 2001
12. Establish guidelines for apparatus replacement 2000
13. Implement Emergency Medical Dispatching 2002
14. Establish standards of emergency response for levels of service 2003

Of these 14 points, only two have not been completed. The EMD program is scheduled to be online this summer and I hope to have enough statistics to complete item 14 next year.

Additionally, we have refurbished all of our ambulances, increased our FTE with 3 floater positions, increased our communications ability with pagers and radios, almost completed linking all stations to the county’s LAN and WAN, reorganized the structure of the department, increased our staff development capability with equipment and training room, increased the pay for paramedics, developed a web page, established an Explorer post, purchased a Special Operations trailer with grant funds, have a Support Unit for autopsies and special incidents, and have increased our training hours.

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