Indian Land gets a Quick Responce Vehicle
Lancaster County EMS is pleased to announce that a Paramedic QRV is now on duty 24/7 in Indian Land. This is in addition to the ambulance staffed 24/7 in the area. Wayne Willis, Al DePalma, and Louis Roman will be assigned to ‘EMS 8’. LCEMS wants to thank Indian Land Rescue for working together to provide additional EMS services to the Indian Land community.
Lancaster Newest Promotions
Greg Brasington recently was promoted to the A Shift Assistant Supervisor position. He was previously the
A shift Field Training Officer. Greg has been with LCEMS since 1996.
Janie Demby has been promoted to A shift FTO. She has been with LCEMS since
2001.
Tammy Vincent has been promoted to A shift Assistant FTO. She has been
with LCEMS since 2002.
Tim Rouse has been promoted to the Part Time FTO. He has been with LCEMS
since 1996.
Rickey Bell has been promoted to B shift Assistant FTO. He has been with
LCEMS since 2004.
Annual Awards Ceremony
Congratulations to the following people for earning their awards:
First Responder of the Year – Phillip Hall
Lancaster Rescue Member of the Year – Tim Rouse
Indian Land Rescue Member of the Year – Rob Evosevich
Part Time Employee of the Year – Jamison Jamieson
Employee of the Year – Chuck Payne
Auxiliary Member of the Year - James King
Honorary Auxiliary Membership - Mike Hunter
Honorary Auxiliary Membership - Dick Mann
Beth, Kayla and Mike Hunter were recognized in honor of their Father/Brother Ira Dean "Hammer" Hunter while his Medic Number was retired.
Lancaster's Newest Paramedic
Wendy Catoe completed her practical and cognitive exams certifying her as a Nationally Registered EMT-Paramedic. After hundreds of patients and well over a thousand hours of training, she has accomplished her goal. She will start performing paramedicine under the guidance of a field training officer.
Southwestern Medical Center’s Functional Job Analysis describes a Paramedic’s Characteristics as the following:
The Paramedic must be a confident leader who can accept the challenge and high degree of responsibility entailed in the position. The Paramedic must have excellent judgment and be able to prioritize decisions and act quickly in the best interest of the patient, must be self disciplined, able to develop patient rapport, interview hostile patients, maintain safe distance, and recognize and utilize communication unique to diverse multicultural groups and ages within those groups. Must be able to function independently at optimum level in a non-structured environment that is constantly changing.
Even though the Paramedic is generally part of a two-person team generally
working with a lower skill and knowledge level Basic EMT, it is the Paramedic
who is held responsible for safe and therapeutic administration of drugs
including narcotics. Therefore, the Paramedic must not only be knowledge about
medications but must be able to apply this knowledge in a practical sense.
Knowledge and practical application of medications include thoroughly knowing
and understanding the general properties of all types of drugs.
Lancaster Promotes Five Of Their Own
Chuck Payne recently was promoted to the A shift Supervisor position. He was previously the C shift Assistant Supervisor. Chuck has been with LCEMS since September 1987.
Kelly Snipes has been promoted to C shift Assistant Supervisor. He has been with LCEMS since March 1997. Kelly lives in Kershaw with his wife of 10 years, Tracie, and their children, Jeremy (8) and Kelcie (3). Kelly enjoys hunting, fishing, spending time with his family, and Gamecock football.
Scott Craton has been a part time medic with LCEMS since January 2008 and was recently hired as full time. Scott lives in Indian Land with his wife Sally. Scott is also a member of Indian Land Rescue Squad and is currently attending school to become a paramedic.
Terri Doster was recently hired as a full time employee with LCEMS. Terri began volunteering with EMS 3 years ago and was hired as part time in March 2008. Terri lives in Kershaw with her fiancée, Josh, and son, Mason (8). Terri is looking forward to a big year in 2010; she will be starting paramedic school in January and will be getting married in May.
Patrick Silver was hired in July 2009 as a part time employee and was recently hired to a full time position. Patrick is married and has 3 sons. He and his family reside in Pineville, NC.
He is also starting paramedic school in January.
EMS receives three new high quality ambulances!
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LCEMS took delivery of three 2009 International ambulances at the end of April. Many long, hard hours of planning
went into the design and construction of the new units. LCEMS had a team of members that met
and planned the design of the units.
These members were tasked with designing a unit that best suited our patients’
needs, while at the same time, helping our medics work efficiently.
The Ambulance team is comprised of: Keith Snipes, Kevin Faile, Rickey Bell,
Kelly Snipes, Blake Champion, Josh Faulkenberry, and Brandon Elliott.
With the help of these individuals,
LCEMS remains able to provide state-of-the-art patient care to the residents of Lancaster
County.
LCEMS has 3 additional trucks in the final stages of construction that should be
arriving and going into service in late October or early November.
ICE (Induced Cooling by
EMS)
By:
Greg Robinson
Lancaster County EMS (LCEMS) has added another innovative treatment. ICE (Induced Cooling by EMS) involves reducing the body temperature of patients who are resuscitated from non-traumatic cardiac arrest. Over the years LCEMS has added numerous devices and changed the way they resuscitate to aid in this battle. ICE is another tool in that arsenal. LCEMS will be one of the first EMS services in SC to begin Induced Hypothermia in patients who are resuscitated from Cardiac arrest.
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Director Lanny Bernard appointed to the National EMS Management Association Board (NEMSMA)
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Skip Kirkwood, Aarron Reinert and Lanny Bernard were elected by the membership of the National EMS Management Association
to serve on the NEMSMA Board for 2009. They will join President Gary Wingrove, Treasurer Bill Dunwoody, Secretary Troy Hagen,
Immediate Past President Darryl Coontz and members-at-large Ray Barishansky, Larry Roberts and Forrest Wood. Kirkwood also was
named by the Board as President-Elect. 2009 will be the first year that NEMSMA will be governed by a 10-member Board, as a
result of a change in the by-laws approved by members in 2008.
Lancaster implements the ResQPOD® ITD
The ResQPOD is an impedance threshold device (ITD) that provides Perfusion on Demand (POD) by regulating pressures in the thorax during states of hypotension.
Animal and clinical studies have shown that during CPR, the ResQPOD:
- Doubles blood flow to the heart
- Increases blood flow to the brain by 50%
- Doubles systolic blood pressure
- Increases survival rates
- Increases the likelihood of successful defibrillation
- Provides benefit in all arrest rhythms
- Circulates drugs more effectively
The American Heart Association (AHA), in their 2005 guidelines, designated the
impedance threshold device (e.g., ResQPOD) a Class IIa recommendation for
increasing blood flow and immediate survival rates in patients in cardiac
arrest. It is the most highly recommended CPR adjunct in the new guidelines and
carries a higher recommendation than any medication used to increase circulation
in adults in cardiac arrest.
The ResQPOD provides a unique way to increase circulation during CPR by refilling the heart after each chest compression. In addition, timing assist lights on the ResQPOD provide guidance on the proper compression and ventilation rates.
Employment Opportunities Available.
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"In trying times, folks will unite"
The Lancaster News
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Mann Nominated to National All-Star Responder Team
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Greg Robinson and Kelly Snipes Win Paramedic Competition
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Commendations from the Administrator
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Lancaster County EMS would like to thanks the J. Marion Sims Foundation for their continuing commitment to improving the health and wellness of the people of Lancaster County.
Third-service provider of out-of-hospital care. We cover 61,000 residents in 540 square miles located just south of Charlotte/Mecklenburg County NC. LCEMS provides Advanced Life Support care 24/7, including aggressive care of potential heart attacks, Rapid Sequence Intubation, and Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP).
Lancaster County EMS was founded in 1967 as one of the first non-funeral home EMS Systems in South Carolina. The first EMT class in South Carolina was held in Lancaster County in 1971. Ken Vick, certification # 00005, is retired from LCEMS but is still an active member of our EMS Auxiliary. We also had one of the first AED programs in the state in 1985. In 1997, LCEMS had the first pre-hospital RSI programs in SC, NC or Georgia.
Lancaster County EMS has won many state and regional awards, including ALS System of the Year, Paramedic and Intermediate EMT of the Year, and Director of the Year. LCEMS has had a team in the SC Paramedic competition finals 9 times.
Lancaster County EMS responds to more than 10,000 calls for service each year.