By Carol A. Cates, MSN, MBA, RN
Chief Nursing Officer
Odessa Regional Medical Center
It’s the close of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) week rather than the actual week itself, but I still wanted to recognize the extraordinary folks who work as EMS providers in this community. I spent several years and hundreds of shifts in the Emergency Department (ED) and I know I have some emotional scars from seeing the trauma and violence that can happen out there in the world. But even on my worst day in the ED, I still didn’t have to face the actual scene itself. I have never pried anyone out of a car that was so damaged that it was hard to even tell it was a car. I have never walked into a crime scene and picked a victim off the ground from a gun shot wound or a stabbing. I have never had to wait and watch a patient in distress from a distance while police made sure a scene is safe. Those things are incredibly difficult physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Yet, EMS providers do it day after day, for years on end. If that is not extraordinary, I just don’t know what is.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, there are about 75,000 licensed emergency medical providers here in Texas. Those range from Emergency Care attendants to Licensed Paramedics. Here in Odessa, we have emergency medical providers in a huge variety of entities, we have several private ambulance companies which handle everything from patient transports to assisting with scene calls. Emergency medical providers work for many of our private companies in roles as diverse as onsite care for emergencies to safety and hazardous materials management. They teach new emergency medical providers at Odessa College and in some of the career and technical programs across the community. Emergency medical providers work in our emergency rooms at the hospitals and in some of the free-standing facilities. Our biggest employer for emergency medical professionals in Odessa, however, is Odessa Fire Rescue (OFR).
Every single emergency medical provider in this community is special, but its harder for me to give you their statistics because they do so many diverse things. It’s easy for me to talk about how special OFR is, however, because even among the extraordinary care all emergency medical providers give, Odessa Fire Rescue is always on the cutting edge of providing the latest and greatest care anywhere. It is a tradition that goes back into the early 1970’s when Odessa became one of the first 911 services in the US, and the very first in Texas.
That tradition continues to this day. The list of accomplishments on the City of Odessa’s website dedicated to their EMS service is quite impressive. They have been accredited at the highest level any EMS agency can receive for cardiac care for many years now. They are always on the cutting edge for starting care in the field and have received awards and accolades in that regard as well.
I know at my hospital, we have seen people who called 911 and less than an hour later that person had already been in the cath lab with a cardiologist who was able to open the blocked artery and stop their heart attack. That happens because of the rapid response, early intervention, and teamwork that OFR provides. I know MCH has had the same experience.
OFR also starts care with strokes, and in people who have cardiac arrests they can start therapeutic hypothermia to hopefully save brain function. I cannot think of an emergent medical condition where early intervention doesn’t matter, and OFR starts early intervention in one way or another with every single patient they see. They also do things to care for not just their patients, but for their people and the community at large.
For instance, anyone who has ever seen a “World’s Wildest Police Chases” video knows how dangerous high-speed movement through busy city streets can be, even with lights and sirens. OFR has a program that makes sure they are getting to and from scenes as quickly as possible, but also not doing it in a way that puts more people in danger. They started a program which many other fire/rescue programs across the nation have imitated where they have paramedics on fire trucks not just the ambulances. That gives them more flexibility in responding quickly to emergencies and more people to manage and help on the sites of those emergencies. Those additional people make everyone involved safer. We are so fortunate in Odessa to have this group of individuals working to make our community healthy and safe.
If you know an emergency medical provider, please make sure you tell them how very special they are. If you are an emergency medical provider, you have my undying respect and gratitude. You are one of the very special people in this world. An old friend of mine used to say, “those who spend their lives serving others will get the good seats in heaven”. EMS providers will be in the orchestra section, I have no doubt.
