4 Broadcaster Press May 17, 2016 www.broadcasteronline.com To all those whose office phone number is 9-1-1, thank you, Vermillion Fire EMS Department National EMS Week May 15 - 21, 2016 Vermillion Fire EMS Department Steps Up Their Game By Sarah Wetzel For the Plain Talk The Vermillion Fire EMS Department is running a tight ship despite a constant rise in calls according to Matt Callahan, Division Chief in charge of EMS operations. Callahan has been in the position for a little over a year and has been proud of how things have run in Vermillion. “Last year was a busy year,” he said. “We ran 920 calls ambulances were dispatched to. We’re seeing an increase of about seven percent yearly. That’s going to continuously go up. People are getting older. Baby boomers are getting up there in age. People are also waiting longer to seek medical treatment with the insurance changes now. So our call volume tends to go up due to that.” Improvements have been made during the year according to Callahan such as advances and replacing equipment. “We’re trying to fine-tune and get best practice and provide the best possible care in the shortest amount of time and get patients to the hospital or emergency room,” he said. The department staff currently stands at 23 and growing in number and skill. “We have some people who are currently looking to go to paramedic school and some who are going to take the advanced EMT course so we’d be able to provide more advanced care,” Callahan said. “Those schools take anywhere from six to 18 months to complete. Our staff is comprised of 50 percent university students, both fire and EMS. We excel and succeed with the university students even though we only have them for three or four years and then they’re gone but we constantly have new people applying. We train monthly and they get a solid training and they see quite a bit of call volume then they go on and hopefully they’ll join a volunteer organization.” It seems as if the Vermillion community itself is doing well with emergency preparation. “The Vermillion community CPR program which is put on by the Vermillion/Clay County EMS Association & Sanford Health Vermillion is going strong,” Callahan said. “They had one of their biggest years ever last year and certified almost 500 people in the community and the and pay online,” Callahan said. “In this day and age people very rarely carry cash or have checks so it gives people the ability to pay with a debit card or credit card online. If people want to register the old way they can always call the station here and we’ll get them registered.” This week comes as a reminder for the country as a whole to recognize the service provided by EMS departments nationwide. “Every year there’s a week that’s designated as National EMS week,” Callahan said. “That was started by President MATTHEW CALLAHAN, Ford in 1974. This year it EMS CHIEF is May 15-21.” Since the surrounding area in Vermillion Fire and EMS CPR. They do classes departments are commonthly that are prebined they choose to do scheduled plus they one large open house in do a lot of on-request October for Fire Prevenclasses for businesses tion Week though many and the university. A lot cities will do proclamaof the medical students tions and the like for come through us to get National EMS week. “It their CPR certification.” is nice,” Callahan said. All dates and other “Our staff doesn’t get details for CPR trainthe recognition a lot ing can be found on the of times and the thank city website under the yous. It’s the least of EMS tab. “They started our worries when we’re a new thing this year in transporting somebody. January where you can When President Ford actually register online started doing this it was a really good thing. It’s just a yearly reminder that these people are out in the community and they’re there to assist and help.” Callahan is determined to continue improving the excellent service the department has provided to the Vermillion community. “When I came here it was a solid department, thriving to excel and we’ve done that,” he said. “We’re continuing to grow and become better. We become better at our jobs every day through training and call review and stuff like that. We have a fantastic staff and they do a fantastic job at what they do.” Training hours depend on the license each staff member holds with paramedics required to earn 60 hours every two years with EMT’s 40 hours. “They have to attend certain topic areas, it can’t be all on one area,” Callahan said. “There’s a guideline on how it needs to be split up.” Callahan hopes that the community realizes the time and dedication the Fire EMS staff spend on their service. “We’re here 24/7,” he said. “The staff is all paid on call. We staff two ambulances on the clock so there’s a lot of time and dedication that goes in by these folks to being on call and taking calls.” On average calls come in about three times a day though it varies widely. “Some days we may run 7-8 calls, other days we might run zero calls,” Callahan said. “It all balances out in the end. We have a lot of employers in town that let people leave to come to ambulance calls which is fantastic. If we didn’t have the student body and all the employes working together to allow people to leave and come to calls it would be very hard to operate a department as large as ours.” According to Callahan the best part about the job is knowing he can help people make a difference. “When we see people, both the fire and ambulance side, it’s really the worst day of their lives,” he said. “It’s up to us to come in and help them pick up the pieces and help them get better and get to definitive care.” 9 Heart Attack Symptoms and Early Warning Signs What are symptoms of a heart attack? Knowing the early warning signs of heart attack is critical for prompt recognition and treatment. Many heart attacks start slowly, unlike the dramatic portrayal often seen in the movies. A person experiencing a heart attack may not even be sure of what is happening. Heart attack symptoms vary among individuals, and even a person who has had a previous heart attack may have different symptoms in a subsequent heart attack. Although chest pain or pressure is the most common symptom of a heart attack, heart attack victims may experience a diversity of symptoms. The following list describes the symptoms of heart attack in more detail. 1. Chest discomfort. Manifest as pain, fullness, and/ or squeezing sensation of the chest. Chest pain is the hallmark symptom of a heart attack, although it can take many different forms. In other cases, chest pain may not occur at all. The characteristic chest pain of a heart attack has been described as a sense of pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain that starts in the center of the chest. The pain or discomfort typically lasts more than a few minutes, or it may go away and then return. It can spread down the arms, to the back, or to the head and neck. Both women and men report chest pain as a primary symptom of heart attack, but women more often than men are likely to have some of the other symptoms, such as nausea, jaw pain, or shortness of breath, that are described below. 2. Jaw pain, toothache, headache. The pain of a heart attack can spread Latte Da Mon - Thurs: 6:30AM - 7PM Friday: 6:30AM - 5PM Saturday: 7AM - 2PM Most Sundays: 8AM - 11AM 709 E. Cherry Street • Vermillion 624•6306 We Deliver! Thank You All EMS & Fire Service Personnel down both arms, to the jaw or head, or to the back. Some people report tooth pain or headache as a symptom of a heart attack. It is possible to have these types of pain without chest pain during a heart attack. 3. Shortness of breath. Feeling short of breath or like you are gasping for air is a common symptom of a heart attack. Shortness or breath, or difficulty breathing, is medically known as dyspnea. Shortness of breath may occur before or during the chest pain of a heart attack, and in some cases, it may be associated with other heart attack symptoms without any chest pain. 4. Nausea or feeling sick to your stomach. It’s a less common but possible symptom of heart attack. Sometimes belching or burping can accompany the nausea, and some patients have described a feeling like indigestion associated with a heart attack. Women are more likely than men to report these less typical symptoms of heart attack, and some patients have described feeling as though they are developing the flu. 5. Vomiting. The nausea that accompanies a heart attack can become so severe that vomiting occurs. 6. General epigastric (upper middle abdomen) discomfort. Sometimes the pain of heart attack is described as stomach pain, or pain in the middle of the upper abdomen. The pain usually feels more like discomfort of heaviness srather than sharp, stabbing pain, and the pain tends to persist more than a few minutes. This can occur with or without pain in the true chest area. 7. No symptoms. Approximately one quarter of all heart attacks are silent, without chest pain or new symptoms and silent heart attacks are especially common among patients with diabetes mellitus). Even though the symptoms of a heart attack at times can be vague and mild, it is important to remember that heart attacks producing no symptoms or only mild symptoms can be just as serious and life-threatening as heart attacks that cause severe chest pain. Too often patients attribute heart attack symptoms to "anxiety," "indigestion," "fatigue," or "stress," and consequently delay seeking prompt medical attention. One cannot overemphasize the importance of seeking prompt medical attention in the presence of symptoms that suggest a heart attack. Early diagnosis and treatment saves lives, and delays in reaching medical assistance can be fatal. A delay in treatment can lead to permanently reduced function of the heart due to more extensive damage to the heart muscle. 8. Arm pain (more commonly the left arm, but may be either arm). The chest pain of a heart attack can spread, or radiate, down one or both arms and to the shoulders. This often happens, and the pain may even extend to the wrist and fingers. This is most common on the left side of the body but it can also occur on the right side. 9. Upper back pain. The upper back is another common location for spread of the pain from a heart attack. Most commonly, back pain that stems from a heart attack is described as occurring between the shoulder blades. n Metro Creative Connections Proud supporters of all Vermillion EMS and Fire Personnel! EMS and FIRE www.pressingmatters.biz Thank You 217 W. Kidder St. • Vermillion, SD • (605)624-3741 Thank you EMS & Fire for all that you do! 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