In The Know

A _ G _ S TA
D o n t l e t t h e o n l y thing missing be U
Inside this issue:
Phoebe Worth Wins ACLS Competition Corporate Sponsor Spotlight Chairmans Corner EMS Triage Exercise EMS in Nicaragua
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October 2012 Fall Issue

GAEMS Conferences Reaching New Heights

GAEMS held the 26th annual GAEMS & Educators Conference during four beautiful days in Savannah, Georgia. The Marriott on River Street was buzzing with over 400 EMS providers and educators who were enjoying the beautiful weather and learning what is new in EMS from professional speakers who came from all over the country. Attendees also enjoyed the chance to compete in a golf tournament, an ACLS competition, and a fun night at The Crab Shack on Tybee Island. The next conference will be here before you know it. CHANGES will be in Augusta, Georgia again this year and will focus on leadership which is a vital part of any EMS. Be on the look out for information coming soon about how to register for the 2013 CHANGES Conference!

Greetings from Exec- 7 utive Director Calendar of Events

10

Class of students listening to a presentation at the 26th annual GAEMS & Educators Conference.

Editors Welcome
Hey yall, Im so excited about the many projects that are happening in Georgia. There are the new First Responder grants and the Equipment grants, our ongoing partnerships with Georgia Technical Research Institute, Georgia Emergency Management Agency, the State Office of Rural Health and many others. But right now Im the most excited about the graduation of the first EMS Leadership Class. There is no other program in the nation that is as comprehensive and involved as the one developed by GAEMS in partnership with Georgia Southern University and the State Office of Rural Health. The most elite professionals of the business world and the EMS family lead the program. The most impressive by-product of the class was the camaraderie between the attendees. These associations will last the life of a career in EMS. The professionals that led the program and taught the curriculum praised the program and the students constantly. The graduates of the program are most likely more prepared, than in our history, to take over the leadership of not only EMS agencies, but any department, agency, or organization. All that aside, I now have a couple dozen new friends! Take care,

Special points of interest:

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David W. Moore

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In The Know

#1

Phoebe Worth Wins ACLS Competition

graved plaques around the base of the trophy. This teams adds yet another win for Phoebe Worth EMS and for their community. GAEMS is proud to have such skilled and hard working members like these providers from Phoebe Worth EMS as well as Henry County EMS and Southside Fire. All the teams did a wonderful job. GAEMS encourages you to gather a team and compete in next years ACLS competition. These competitions are a great way to challenge your team and learn from a difficult situation. ACLS trophy was presented by Jeff Smith, GAEMS Board Member and Tommy Sanders with Southeastern Emergency Equipment. Team members for Phoebe Worth EMS are; Julie Stalvey, John Graddy, and Chanaan Davis.

Teamwork plays a key role in the success of any EMS and Phoebe Worth EMS from Sylvester, Georgia showed their ability to work as a team at this years ACLS Competition held in Savannah. Henry County EMS and Southside Fire competed in this years competition as well and all three teams did a great job under such pressure and scrutiny. Jeff Smith, a GAEMS Board Member, presented the trophy along with Tommy Sanders from Southeastern Emergency Equipment. Phoebe Worth EMS has won this award many times before which is evident by the en-

News from The Oconee Enterprise : National EMS Employees Honor WWII Veterans

Veterans Tour Capital: Twenty-five WWII veterans were able to tour Washington, D.C., recently thanks to the support of National EMS. The one-day trip Sept. 25 was organized as part of the Honor Flight Conyers Program. They visited the WWII Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, Iwo Jima Memorial and other monuments. The $10,000 cost to cover the veterans expenses was paid by contributions from National EMS employees. National EMS Chief Operating Officer Benny Atkins accompanied a veteran from Toccoa. [Submitted photo]

2012 Fall Issue

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Corporate Sponsor SPOTLIGHT

Southeastern Emergency Equipment is a thriving specialty distributor of emergency medical equipment and supplies focused on serving our customers. Southeastern Emergency Equipment is a privately -owned business founded in 1979 to provide supplies to rescue squads and ambulance services in the southeast United States. Over the past three-plus decades, we have been fortunate to evolve into a large specialty distributor of EMS equipment and supplies, WMD/MCI products and trailers, and emergency vehicles that serves over 50 percent of the U.S. population. While our success has resulted from multiple factors, we know customers often choose companies that consistently demonstrate a commitment to the highest standards of quality and service. And thats why our people and our manufacturer partners are so important. Sales TeamEach Southeastern sales representative has been (or still is) a first responder who brings their unique, real -world EMS/Fire experience to each clinical need. This provides our customers a direct resource for product demonstrations, training and just plain-old good advice. Southeastern sales representatives currently cover Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Weve recently launched efforts to expand the Southeastern footprint into Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New England, New York and Wisconsin. When this expansion is complete, over 78 percent of the U.S. population will benefit from the products and services we provide. Customer ServiceOur Customer Service team has earned an industry -wide reputation for its ability to help customers solve product issues as well as fulfill orders. Far more than just an order -taker sitting in a call center cubicle, each member of our team understands the products we sell. This provides an additional resource for recommending the best product solution to a customers needs. I cant tell you how many times Ive had people tell me Southeastern is For additional information, the only company whose customer service people can take an order without part numbers, answer ques- contact tions about products and more. Mark Conner Director of Marketing Manufacturer PartnersWhile we represent a multitude of manufacturers whose products range from the clinically innovative to the everyday basics, we actively seek out and partner with the industrys best. Southeastern Emergency These manufacturers often think of Southeastern as an extension to their sales team without the added Equipment (661) 977-1048 (direct) expense. By focusing our sales staff on Focus Manufacturers, we can provide early feedback and market understanding that allow manufacturers to improve their strategy and plans. Customer relationships and real-world industry knowledge help provide our manufacturers a conduit to early adoption and market acceptance.

Mark.Conner@SEEquip.com

Attention educators! Find them on YouTube by searching SimPad-Making Simulation Easier

Or click this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxi_j1VerVs

Other products and services offered by

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In The Know

Chairmans Corner

2012 GAEMS & Educators Conference Golf Tournament Winners

The first place winners are from team Medtronic. Congratulations to Chris Lotter, Mike Vandercook, Bengie Cowart, and Gary White. Second place went to Phoebe Worth EMS, and Third place went to EMS Consultants.

2012 Fall Issue

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EMS Triage Functional Exercise held in Forsyth, Georgia

Disaster Drill

GEMA/HS, GAEMS, and GTRI, with significant help from other partners such as DPH and the TCC, held an EMS Triage Functional Exercise in Forsyth, Georgia on September 13, 2012. The exercise was designed to address a major gap found in the survey and tabletop results: the lack of a standardized triage system in Georgia. The major strengths identified during this exercise are as follows: Interoperable communications were handled well Incident command was effective Using the Trauma Communications Center (TCC), all units were efficiently guided to an appropriate hospital Throughout the exercise, several opportunities for improvement in Georgias ability to respond to the incident were identified. The primary areas for improvement are as follows: Patient accountability, tracking, and documentation was uneven Triage was conducted in an unsafe area In some cases, medics lacked knowledge about resources, including the TCC and trauma trailers The exercise included an introduction from GBI representatives Lee Sweat (retired) and Trent Hillsman outlining the importance of entering a crime scene and what law enforcement might expect from medics at the scene and during an investigation. Service directors and staff from 13 unique EMS providers were involved for a total of 39 EMS participants. About 44 live volunteer victims with moulage injuries and 10 mannequins simulating deceased victims were triaged during the event. The functional exercise was the first held in four years of the grant and was designed to complement the Year 4 tabletops and survey efforts.

EMS IN NICARAGUA
GAEMS INTERN TRAVELS TO DEVELOPING COUNTRY

N
In the mountains of Estel, Nicaragua visiting Alberto, a hermit who carves into the mountainside.

icaragua is the poorest country in Central America and the second poorest in the Western Hemisphere only after Haiti. While the landscape is beautiful with large mountains and winding rivers this is also a volatile place. Nicaragua is located between Honduras and Costa Rica in Central America. It is home to several active volcanoes, torrential floods, mudslides, and forest fires. The economic and political situation in Nicaragua is unstable and what we consider necessities they often do without. While on a four hour bus ride from Managua to Estel, where we stayed in Northern Nicaragua, my peers and I saw multiple wrecks. Our cabins were open air and we were located in the middle of town. It wasnt until the third night there that I realized I had yet to see or hear an ambulance. I am a senior at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia majoring in Writing and Communications and when I was offered the opportunity to spend two weeks in a developing country I surprisingly jumped at the chance. I knew it would be an eye opening experience and that seeing the world outside of my safe South Georgia home would broaden my mind more than any subject in school ever could. I would find out later just how right I was. The trip to Nicaragua was hosted by an organization called Emergency Services for Latin America, or ERSLA, which aids mostly fire services. Equipment is donated from all over the world and emergency response professionals are brought in to train citizens. ERSLAs goal is sustainable development which is basically an approach that calls for training the Nicaraguans so that the United States can take a more hands-of approach. For example, Rodney McDonald a Macon, Georgia native and the Latin American Director of ERSLA, has started a coalition for clean water. Instead of Rodney delivering the filters himself he has Nicaraguan volunteers deliver these filters to take the Americans out of the equation. His goal is to make Nicaragua self reliant and for all communities to feel the security that he felt as a child growing up in the states. The emergency services in Nicaragua are slim. There are very few ambulances but more surprisingly, they are not even used for emergencies. These ambulances are not equipped with cabinets, beds, monitors, or even medicines. They are used only as transportation from one clinic to the next. Fire fighters are more prominent in this area because of the natural disasters that often occur Still, even Nicaraguas fire service is not recognized by the local or national government as necessary and therefore is not funded in any way. If you were injured in a wreck while in Nicaragua this is currently how the system works. First, a local would see that you are hurt and they would call someone they knew. They may reach a person who volunteers for the local fire department, then again they may not. Once the fire service is notified they will usually send a person on a motorcycle to assess the situation and report back about the severity. If the situation is bad enough a fire truck will be sent to pick you up. Most services do not have back boards nor the knowledge of how to use them. Forget the golden hour, this can take up to three hours or more depending on where you are. It is easy to see that Nicaragua is not a place you want to be if you are injured I took the smallest things for granted before taking this trip. Clean running water, a roof over my head, and disease free food are not things I used to be thankful for, instead I just expected it. I am also thankful for living in a country where I can have peace of mind knowing that well trained medics and fully stocked ambulances are not too far away. EMS is often an underappreciated service in the United Stated because people dont realize just how fortunate they are to have it. I do and I want to say thank you!

La Chureca which means The Dump where a whole community of people live and work.

My peers and I standing in front of an ambulance donated by Japan.

Emergency Response Services for Latin America (ERSLA) training exercise.

2012 Fall Issue

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New Board Member

Meet Dawn Peebles: Board Member At Large

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to those who do not know me. I have been an EMT for 23 years and was married to the love of my life for almost 20 years, Tim Peebles, who faithfully served GAEMS as a board member until his passing in February of 2010. We have one beautiful daughter Makayla, 12 years old.

I will serve the state EMS community as your board member and continue the work that my husband started and I supported in the back ground. I have worked in the registration booth at both the GAEMS CHANGES conference and the GAEMS Educators conference since GAEMS began providing the conferences.

Over the past years I have held many positions in EMS to include EMT, EMD, 911 Communications Officer, IT supervisor, EMS billing coordinator, Warehouse Manager and currently Program Analyst. I have worked for Gwinnett County Fire & Emergency Services, Gwinnett County 911, Hall County 911, Northeast Georgia Medical Center, North Georgia Ambulance, and Professional Ambulance. I understand the struggles that face the EMS community from field to administration.

Greetings from GAEMS Executive Director-Kim Littleton

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In The Know

New Board Member

Meet Glenn Henry: Board Member At Large

I have been actively involved in EMS for over 32 years. I became an EMT in 1979 and a paramedic in 1981. I have worked as a street medic in Athens, GA. an EMS educator for Gwinnett County, and Transport Program manager for Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta. I have served as adjunct instructor at Athens Technical College for 19 years and as the Program Chair for EMS & Fire Programs fulltime for the last five years. I hold various degrees along with a Masters Degree in Teaching with Technology. I am married to Lisa Henry and have three children ages 25, 21, and 17.

2012 Fall Issue

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Gold Sponsor

THANK YOU

Silver Sponsor

Calendar of Events
November 2012
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11/19GAEMS Board Meeting 11/22GAEMS 11/31GAEMS

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December 2012
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January 2013
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