The traditional sound of a medical emergency is getting quieter for some patients of MedStar EMS.  MedStar has stopped transporting cardiac arrest patients using lights and sirens.

“We want to provide the best care we can,” said Matt Zavadsky, MedStar’s associate director for operations. “Traveling in the emergency mode makes it more difficult for crews to perform procedures such as CPR, IVs, and EKGs,” Zavadsky explained. “And our studies have shown that traveling with lights and siren only saves an average of two minutes in travel time to the hospital.”

 A new “weather map” of sorts is helping MedStar EMS better predict where 9-1-1 calls will come from, improving ambulance response times and ultimately patient care.

“It is truly cutting edge, “ said Matt Zavadsky, MedStar’s associate director of operations. “Few EMS agencies in the world are using this system.  We truly believe this will help improve our response times and system performance.”

This new EMS “weather map” graphically provides real-time analysis of anticipated call volume. This allows MedStar dispatchers to position ambulances throughout the service area at locations where they can get to the most calls in the fastest amount of time.

MedStar EMS, the exclusive ambulance service provider to 15 Tarrant County cities, now joins the elite group of medical transportation service providers that are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS).

Of the 2,500 licensed ambulance providers in North America, only 133 are CAAS accredited. With this achievement, MedStar becomes only the fourth ambulance service to be accredited in the state of Texas.

Quick thinking and the availability of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) saved the life of a Fort Worth high school student last month.

In recognition of their quick thinking and use of CPR and the AED, MedStar will present the coaches with a MedStar Community Hero Award the October 13 Fort Worth ISD board meeting.

In support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month MedStar paramedics and EMTs are wearing pink examine gloves during October.

Healthcare supply company Medline is donating $1 for each case of ‘Generation Pink Exam Gloves’ sold in the month of October to breast cancer research. MedStar’s order will provide for a $300 donation.

“[The color] really stands out,” said Lisa Garcia, MedStar Paramedic. “Hopefully this will encourage people to think about breast cancer and talk to their doctors. And it’s nice to be able to recognize those who have fought the disease, especially those we have lost,” she added.

MedStar EMS sees the deadly consequences of drunk driving first hand. That’s why we remind people the tragedy from drunk driving can be prevented with a simple choice: If you drink this holiday weekend, choose your ride. Don’t make an ambulance your designated driver.

The rain and clouds across Dallas-Fort Worth may have brought temperatures down out of the 100s, but it’s still hotter than you may think inside your car or truck.

It’s much too hot to leave a child or pet, even for a few minutes. On a July afternoon when it was 97 degrees outside, the temperature inside a vehicle reached 122.

While it is against the law to use or even possess fireworks in the City of Fort Worth, as well as almost every incorporated city in the area, the holiday will inevitably bring 9-1-1 calls. 

MedStar recommends these firework safety tips from the National Council on Fireworks Safety.

“Dallas and Tarrant counties rank in the top three in the state for highest number of annual fatalities related to alcohol,” said Mary Kardell, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving North Texas. Dallas County ranked first, Harris County second and Tarrant County third, according to the most recent data available from the NHTSA, Kardell explained.

While impaired driving is a problem throughout the year, MedStar Emergency Medical Services reminds the public this Fourth of July: Don’t make an ambulance your designated driver.