“Many motorcycle crash victims are unconscious when responders arrive making it very difficult for EMS personnel to know the patient’s medical history or emergency contacts” explains John Elder, MedStar’s Clinical Director. “Another major concern for crash victims are untrained Good Samaritans attempting to remove the rider’s helmet, which can cause further injury.”

The Rider Alert card (www.RiderAlert.org) is placed inside a rider’s helmets and contains vital, life-saving information, emergency contact, and any important medical history. When first responders arrive on the scene of a motorcycle accident, a one-inch, sticker on the outside of the helmet will indicate that the biker has the Rider Alert Card. The sticker also warns untrained responders not to remove the helmet, which could prevent further injury.

Matt Zavadsky of MedStar explains that this card is born out of experience; it has been designed by paramedics who have been on both sides of an accident as the injured rider or as medical help. “As an EMS provider and a motorcycle rider, I’ll be the 1st person to have the Rider Alert card and sticker on my helmet. Accessing this basic information after an ‘unscheduled dismount’ can sometimes be impossible. This small tool could mean the difference between life and death.”

The card is free and can be obtained at any Fort Worth Fire Station, MedStar’s headquarters and at most motorcycle dealerships throughout Fort Worth.

Further information can be accessed via www.rideralert.org

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Special thanks to Macara Trusty for her help on this story!

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MedStar ambulances know the fastest route anywhere in Fort Worth, but getting to a hospital from the north side can be tricky.

"When it's close to rush hour, it can be fairly bad," said paramedic Grant Leiter.

Last year, MedStar answered more than 5,000 service calls in North Fort Worth. More than 80 percent of those patients had to be transported to hospitals downtown or outside the area, delaying critical care.

"The quicker we can get someone to a professional medical center, the better their chances at recovery," Leiter said.

On November 30, the drive to the emergency room gets shorter. North Hills Hospital is opening The ER at Alliance.

"We are not an urgent care center or a doc-in-the-box," said executive director Michelle Underwood. "We are a full service emergency room department."

The ER will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week on the northeast corner of North Tarrant Parkway and Interstate 35W. It has a full staff of nurses and at least one board-certified emergency physician on duty at all times. There are also independent labs and imaging rooms for on-site diagnosis.

It fills a void outside Loop 820 where families have grown, and facilities have fallen behind. The hospital expects a good portion of its patients to be pediatric cases.

Mary Ellen Strickland is a nurse who lives nearby. She has been waiting for emergency options for years.

"As a parent, if I am not sure what to do, now I have someplace safe to get answers and provide good quality care for my family," she said.

The ER at Alliance anticipates close to 1,500 visits per month, and is striving for an average wait time of less than eight minutes to see a doctor.

MedStar also expects to cut its service cycle times, which have increased as the area has grown and traffic has worsened. Last year, it averaged 65 minutes per call — that's the time from dispatch to drop off for each patient. The average in 2009 was 63 minutes.

E-mail cnorton@wfaa.com

Fort Worth-based MedStar paramedics brought him to Crowley to join Rana, his grandchildren and a houseful of other relatives for Thanksgiving dinner. It’s part of MedStar’s Home for the Holidays program.

Click here for the rest of the story.

Paramedics reunite family for Thanksgiving
by CHRIS HAWES
Bio | Email| Follow: @ChrisHawesCh8
WFAA
Posted on November 24, 2011 at 11:11 PM

WISE COUNTY - A North Texas man experienced something on Thursday his family thought might never happen again. He came home for Thanksgiving.

More than three years ago, Michael Sherrick suffered a traumatic brain injury at work. The care he needs has made it impossible to come home, even for a visit.

Michael was an industrial construction worker, working high above the ground. His wife, Rana, always feared he would be hurt.

On May 5, 2008, it happened. He fell.

That day, Rana lost the husband she had known for 16 years.

“We were the couple that said, ‘I love you’ before we went to bed every night,” Rana said.

Michael Sherrick suffered a traumatic brain injury, and was paralyzed.

“It's been difficult,” his wife admitted. “We were thrown into a life we didn't choose.”

It would be nearly two years before Rana would find a way to communicate with her husband - a computer that reads the motion of his eyes.

“Three blinks means 'I love you,'” Rana said. “We were able to establish that.”

Michael's fragile medical condition required living in a nursing home. He had not been back home again, until this Thanksgiving.

Fort Worth-based MedStar paramedics brought him to Crowley to join Rana, his grandchildren and a houseful of other relatives for Thanksgiving dinner. It’s part of MedStar’s Home for the Holidays program.

“It's something I guess I never thought would happen,” said Michael’s brother-in-law, Don Grazier.

It will not be Michael’s last trip home. Rana recently came into enough money to begin building a handicap-accessible home, in rural Wise County. A close friend, a registered nurse, will live with them. His mother will live next door.

“When I told him for the first time we were going to be able to bring him home, and have 24-hour care around the clock, and that he would be able to sit in his wheelchair and watch me cook in our new home [...] reclaim some of our life that's been taken from us, we cried together,” Rana said.

The new home should be ready by March. For that, and the years ahead they will share, Rana says she is thankful.
“The message is, God, family, and love,” Rana said, “And to be there for each other, no matter what.”

E-mail chawes@wfaa.com

Click to see a demonstration that may change the way you drive.

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Record-setting temperatures are keeping MedStar professionals busy responding to heat-related emergencies.  Several local news agencies have recently sent reporters out with MedStar to get a first-hand look.

The 33 News

Reporter:  Daniel Novick 

WFAA, Channel 8

Reporter:  Jim Douglas

FOX 4

Reporter:  Brandon Todd

Precautions to Beat the Heat:

 Stay hydrated

• Drink plenty of water regularly
• Don’t wait until you are thirsty, drink continuously
• Avoid alcoholic and caffeinated drinks as they can worsen the affects of heat

Cool your body

• Stay in the shade or air conditioning if possible; go swimming
• Keep air moving around your body
• Wear loose clothing
• Place cool, wet cloths or ice on the neck, under the arms or in groin area
• Use an umbrella or wide brim hat to limit exposure to direct sun

Limit or avoid strenuous activity during the heat of the day

Take extra care with children and the elderly

• Bodies of the young and old do not cool as effectively as in adults
• Supervise children to ensure proper hydration and limit activity
• Check on elderly neighbors regularly and help reinforce these tips

Warning signs of Heat Stroke

Heat stroke is a dangerous and potentially life-threatening condition that occurs when the body loses its ability to regulate temperature due to exposure in a hot environment. If you suspect heat stroke, call 9-1-1 immediately:

• High body temperature – over 103
• Fast heartbeat
• Fast and shallow breathing
• Changes in mental status such as confusion, irritability or personality changes
• Fainting or extreme fatigue, feeling dizzy or weak
• Hot, dry skin or lack of sweating
• Headache, nausea

Resources:

Residents also can call 2-1-1 to get information from health and human services programs which may be able to assist with utility bills, fans, air conditioners, etc.

NBC5 reporter Lindsay Wilcox hosted MedStar on the new NonStop Nightly news segment to talk about water / pool safety and demonstrate the new hands-only CPR technique for bystanders.

Click to veiw story.

As the story points out, drowning is the sixth leading cause of death in people of all ages, and the second leading cause among children under age 14, according to the Centers for Disease Control.  In fact, MedStar routinely sees an increase in the number of emergency calls for potential drownings every summer as temperatures rise and people head for pools and lakes.

Prevention is the best treatment!  Here are some key tips for staying safe in the water this summer:

• Presence of attentive adult supervision
• Use appropriate floatation devices such as life jackets
• Learning to swim
• Avoiding dangerous environments (such as drainage culverts)
• Use of barrier fencing around pools; checking to ensure gates are locked

Should you see a person is in danger of drowning  – call 9-1-1 immediately to get help on the way!

Do not enter a dangerous situation in order to render aid as you may also become a victim.  Once the person is out of the water, assess the need for assistance and potentially start hands-only chest compressions.

Chest Compressions – or hands-only CPR – is recommended for bystanders as a simple and effective way to help a person whose heart has stopped due to cardiac arrest casued by a near drowning.  The process focuses solely on chest compressions to move oxygenated blood to the brain and vital tissues in the critical time immediately following cardiac arrest. 

Follow these easy steps: 

1)  Check for signs of consciousness and breathing.  If none are present, initiate chest compressions

 

2)  Place the hand in the center of the chest, between the nipples

 

3)  Push hard and fast – compressions should be:

                    -  Adults – use 2 hands, compress at least 2 inches deep

                    - Kids ages 1 – 8 – use one hand, compress between 1-2 inches deep

                    - Infants under 1 year – use two fingers only, compress 1 inch deep

 

4)  Compressions should be at 100 beats a minute - which is the same rate as the beat of the Bee Gee’s song Staying Alive.

5)  Don’t stop.  Keep going until someone else can take over or helps arrives.

MedStar offers free chest compression training classes to business, schools, churches and other organizations in our 15-city service area. 

Click here for more information on FREE Chest Compression Training!

Local reporter Mitch Mitchell of the Star Telgram aslo spoke with MedStar to learn more about the financial impact of the program and the reasons behind a new aspect of the program that focuses on patients with congestive heart failure who have been recently released from the hospital.

Click here to read more.

Read more...

Two MedStar units and two supervisors worked the scene on Thursday morning 3/24 as the cab of an 18-wheeler dangled precariously from an overpass bridge.  Two patients were inside a car pinned underneath the truck as well.  Fortunately, no life-threatening injuries were reported despite the dramatic scene.

News Coverage of the Incident:

CBS 11

WFAA

NBC5

Star Telegram

Last year, MedStar honored Jeff Harrison with the Community Hero Award for his couragous rescue of a woman and her soon-to-be adopted daughter from the Trinity River.  Now, Harrison is one of 20 finalists being considered for the civilian version of the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Visit WFAA page for full story.

The obesity epidemic is growing, which means patients needing ambulances are getting bigger, too.
Accordingly, ambulance service MedStar is getting a big overhaul.  MedStar, which serves 15 Tarrant County cities, is converting its older Ford chassis to a heavier-duty Chevy chassis, according to Matt Zavadsky, MedStar associate director for operations.

"It's a growing problem," Zavadsky said of the increase in the number of calls to transport obese patients. "And it's one that's not going away anytime soon."

Zavadsky said about 80 percent of the fleet of 54 ambulances has been upgraded, with changes to be completed by year's end. The new chassis costs about $7,000 more than the previous chassis.

"In addition to the remounting, where we put the old box on the new chassis, we also purchased seven additional ambulances for the fleet last year due to the call volume growth and the staffing growth," Zavadsky said.  Zavadsky said the space or "box" area in which patients ride will not be affected.

Although MedStar doesn't keep statistics on patients' weight, Zavadsky said that the trend nationwide toward obesity holds true in North Texas as well. Last year, MedStar logged 220 calls requiring bariatric equipment, for obese patients.  He said one patient weighed close to 1,000 pounds.

"It's the biggest since I've been here," Zavadsky said. "It took lots of equipment and quite a while."

Dramatic increase
More than a quarter of American adults are obese, according to Karen Hunter, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"During the past 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States," Hunter said. "It's pretty disturbing when you see that most states have an obesity prevalence."  Zavadsky said MedStar is responding to those statistics.  MedStar's new gross vehicle maximum weight is 12,300 pounds, compared to the 11,500 pounds maximum previously.  That means the ambulances can carry an additional 800 pounds.

It's an important figure, which takes into consideration the equipment, the paramedics and emergency medical technicians, the patient and a family member or other acquaintance.

"The switch to the heavier-duty chassis is both because of making enough capacity for the patients and for the equipment that we carry," Zavadsky said. "As medical technology changes, we need to add more equipment to the ambulance, and that adds to the weight."

He said all of their ambulances, which are modular dual axle, can cost $130,000 without equipment, and equipment can tack on an additional $30,000 to $50,000.  "A cardiac monitor alone costs $20,000," he said.

Zavadsky said other changes are being made to accommodate people who, through the years, have become wider, heavier and even taller.  The company has several strong winches to move plus-sized patients in and out of the ambulance. A larger stretcher can carry patients up to 850 pounds.

Strap extenders can be attached to existing buckles to hold the patients securely, "just like you have on an airplane -- the same type of principle," Zavadsky said. 

EMT safety
MedStar spokeswoman Suzy Miller said the company is proud of its new equipment and "is always looking for what's on the horizon."

"The world seems built for what's average," Miller said. "However, MedStar has a responsibility to care for the safety and dignity of all our patients, even when one size doesn't fit all."

 
In addition to obvious benefits, the larger ambulances offer a smoother ride.  The changes are not only helping the patients, but the paramedics and EMTs as well.  Zavadsky said that heavier patients just add to the dangers of their profession.

"Emergency medical workers have a high workers comp rate," he said. "They suffer from back injuries, knee injuries, needle sticks and a host of other problems. It's a very dangerous profession."

MedStar will not charge an additional fee to offset the upgrade.  "We don't feel that's appropriate," Zavadsky said.

Scott Gordon, NBC5 Reporter

Fort Worth's ambulance service is replacing its fleet to accommodate the growing number of overweight patients.

Medstar is converting its older Ford chassis to heavier Chevys, which cost $7,000 more but can carry an additional 800 pounds, said Matt Zavadsky, Medstar associate operations director.  "It's built to carry the extra weight and not be so saggy," he said.

Paramedics don't keep statistics on patients' weight, but Zavadsky said the national trend toward larger waistlines holds true here.   "I can tell you -- no pun intended -- it's growing," he said.

Medstar made the decision last year to put larger frames on its 54 ambulances. The "boxes" on top -- where patients are treated -- remain the same.

The ambulance service has also transitioned to a larger stretcher, which can carry patients up to 650 pounds. The old ones were limited to 500 pounds.

Paramedics have new procedures for buckling in overweight patients. They lower the side rails, which can be uncomfortable for large people, and attach strap extenders to the existing buckles, Zavadsky said.  "And now we've got all this room," he said as he demonstrated the technique.

Last year, 220 patients had to be transported on a special bariatric cot, which is designed for the extremely obese. 

Medstar began the transition to the newer chassis last year and expects to finish by the end of this year.  The larger ambulances have other benefits as well, such as a smoother ride and the ability to carry an extra oxygen tank, Zavadsky said.

In 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 28.7 percent of Texans were obese.  Obesity is defined as a body mass index of 30 or higher. BMI is measured by a person's weight and height.    "In the last 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States," the CDC said on its website.

"It's a trend that's probably going to continue, and we're going to have to take additional steps in the future," Zavadsky said.

Deana Boyde, Star Telegram

 

As ice makes road conditions treacherous once again, MedStar reinstates safety measures.

Click for more deatils.

 

Weather Causing Blood Shortage and Increased 9-1-1 Calls

Jan Jarvis, Star Telegram

 

 Icy roads have caused a drop in blood donations and a rise in calls to 9-1-1.

Read the full story.

MedStar Ambulance Calls Increase

Joel Thomas, CBS 11

 

MedStar handles increase in call volume, but not always for the most expected reasons.

Click for full story and video.

See video clip on Yahoo.com!

 

MedStar Responds to Calls for Falls, Breathing Problems and Traffic Accidents

Mitch Mitchell, Star Telegram

 

9-1-1 Calls for traffic accidents have been above average but not as high as with previous ice storm events in DFW.  However, calls for falls, on-set of labor and breathing problems are up sharply.

Click for more details.

 

Extra Crews Prepare for Wednesday's Commute

Brandon Todd, FOX4

 

MedStar comments on preparations and saftey measures taken during severe weather in Fort Worth and surrounding areas.

 Click for the full story and video. 

Click here for the full story and photos of the JEOC.

Fort Worth Star Telegram Article

Click here for more information or to apply for an AED Loan at your event.

For MedStar patients in the area, this will also mean decreased transport times.  Not only can patients get to definitive care more quickly, ambulance units can also return to active service more quickly than before to respond to other patients in need.

See the full story.

Read the article.

News Coverage:

WFAA

Star Telegram

Cheers: To Angela Weimer and Tobias Theisen of MedStar unit 37 and Fire Unit 26 fellows Ali, Johnson and Davis for responding in seven minutes when I had a stroke. The care I received from the doctors, technicians and nurses at Texas Health Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital was excellent and calming to this concerned gentleman and his family.

    -- Charles Wells, Fort Worth

Thank you Mr. Wells and all of us at MedStar are wishing you a speedy recovery!

Click to read the full article.