Medical Center EMS

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is a complex health care system that provides immediate, on-scene patient care to those suffering sudden illness or injury. EMS today is much different from what it was just 30 years ago. Most fire departments and rescue squads had little training in emergency treatment, spinal immobilization or airway techniques. Funeral homes operated ambulance services that offered horizontal transport in vehicles poorly equipped for this purpose.

Since then, EMS has made dramatic improvements in providing patient care. Its personnel take college level courses and practical exercises to become professionally trained and licensed as basic life and advanced life support providers.

The symbol used by Medical Center EMS is the "Star of Life" adopted in 1973 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It is a six-point star with a royal blue background on which is imposed a white snake entwined around a staff, signifying Aesculapius, the Greek god of Medicine. The six points of the star represent the main functions of the EMS system: (1) detecting a sudden illness or accident; (2) reporting it; (3) responding to the emergency; (4) providing on-scene care; (5) supplying care in transit; and (6) transferring the victim to providers of definitive medical care.

Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) are trained to perform patient assessment, administer oxygen and perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, do basic splinting and bandaging, and immobilize patients who have spinal cord injuries and other trauma. They are also trained to begin intravenous (IV) therapy and establish airways. The duties of a Paramedic are diverse and advanced, in that patient care is supplemented by a variety of responsibilities performed before, during and after an emergency response. These include patient assessment, basic and advanced life-support procedures, advanced airway management (intubation), EKG interpretation (heart monitoring), defibrillation, and medication administration through intramuscular, IV and endotracheal tubes, EMTs also perform triage during disasters, assess the effects of treatment and make contact with the medical control physician to discuss further treatment.

Medical Center EMS has provided ambulance services for Madison County, Tennessee since 1991. Primary ambulance service is also provided in Benton and Chester Counties in West Tennessee.

Mobile Intensive Care Unit

In 1992, to further enhance its goal of setting the standard for providing quality pre-hospital care, Medical Center EMS purchased a Mobile Intensive Care Unit. The Mobile ICU is much larger than the standard box-type ambulance. It is equipped with a cellular phone and FAX machine to communicate with hospitals and to send important documents. Other equipment includes a microwave to warm IV fluids and medications, and a refrigerator to cool them; a ventilator machine for intubated patients; an incubator for newborns; and a blood/gas machine. The Mobile ICU is used to transport patients needing advanced medical care from other hospitals. Such care might include:

• Intracranial bleeding requiring neurosurgical intervention
• Cardiogenic shock
• Burns requiring treatment in a burn center
• Multiple severe injuries
• Life-threatening trauma
• Unstable medical emergencies
• Intubated patients requiring ventilator support
• Specialized medications by IV drip
• Neonatal (newborn) transport

When the Mobile ICU is used, specially trained staff must be aboard. These are: an emergency medical technician, a paramedic, an Emergency Department Mobile ICU nurse or Neonatal ICU nurse, and (in some circumstances) a physician or respiratory therapist. The Mobile ICU is available if air transportation is unable to fly due to weather conditions.

Dispatch Services - Jackson Med-Link
 Keeping up with advances in EMS, Medical Center EMS Dispatch (Jackson Med-Link) has been designated by the State of Tennessee Department of Health, Division of Emergency Medical Services, as the Telecommunications Resource Coordination Center for West Tennessee. This designation was effective March 16, 1992 and means that the Dispatch Center is the communication link for 17 counties in West Tennessee. In the event of a disaster, the Dispatch Center in Jackson would coordinate the response of emergency services in the affected areas. Medical Center EMS responds to over 1,500 calls per month in Madison and Chester counties. Med-Link is staffed 24 hours per day, seven days per week by trained emergency medical dispatchers who have completed a 54-hour dispatch training course at Jackson State Community College, along with 16 hours of clinical practice with an experienced dispatcher. The state certifies our personnel as Emergency Medical Dispatchers.

In the past when an emergency call was received, little if any information was given to the caller about what he could do to help the patient until the ambulance arrived. Today, dispatchers use a special nationally-distributed computer program to provide pre-arrival instructions. Using the program, dispatchers can direct callers through life-saving procedures such as bleeding control, CPR, Heimlich Maneuver and childbirth prior to the arrival of ambulance personnel. This special program was provided through donations to a special fund administered by the West Tennessee Healthcare Foundation Fund.

In one instance, dispatchers talked the parents of a choking child through the procedure to release the obstruction before the ambulance arrive. The baby's cry was the best sound the dispatchers heard all day!

Medical Center Transportation Services

Wheelchair, ambulatory, and non-ambulance stretcher transportation is available Monday through Friday for persons needing assistance with transportation for medical services. The service is licensed by the Tennessee Department of Health as a transport service for invalid patients. This service is very helpful for persons requiring frequent transport for doctor's office appointments or dialysis.

Transportation Services also handles preventive maintenance and some repairs for hospital vehicles. The Fleet Service Technicians are certified as A.S.E. mechanics and/or Emergency Vehicle Technicians. A computer record tracks the needed vehicle maintenance. A fully-equipped garage facility in Jackson is available to care for over 100 hospital vehicles including ambulances, home health care cars, courier vehicles and delivery trucks.

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