May 19, 1999

EMS Week, North Flight adds services

By Jacquie Thomas
Herald Editor
       "Out of sight, out of mind."
      Until you need one...then the skill and response time of the Emergency Medical Services personnel becomes the most important thing in the world to you...possibly keeping you on this side of the life or death threshold.
      North Flight ground division answers 7,000 calls per year and North Flight air division answers an additional 800. When any unit with North Flight ground crew answers a call, it is with "advanced life support" which means a minimum of one paramedic will be on board for each response. Rick Osborne is one of 30 paramedics with North Flight EMS, serving the Grand Traverse area, approximately a 15 mile radius of Traverse City.
      Rick Osborne has been on this career path from the beginning. He dreamed of it as a kid and attended Central Michigan University, studying Sports Medicine and Health Education. He was a volunteer EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) for three years and has been a paramedic with North Flight for nine years.
      "I love my work...I just really love it," he commented. "To have the potential in a day's work to save someone is something special."
      "There are many stories with happy endings," Osborne continued. "To arrive on the scene of an accident and find a young girl with a blocked airway--and to have that person fully recover is a very powerful thing."
      If it is determined that North Flight's air division team will be needed, usually for the most critical cases or those hard to reach by ambulance, the team will consist of one paramedic, a pilot and one RN.
      EMS providers in northern Michigan continue to improve the delivery of the most advanced care and the fastest response times possible. North Flight recently made a large investment into EKG equipment with the purchase and installation of six, 12-lead monitors in ambulances around northern Michigan. At a cost of between $12,000 and $15,000 each, the new monitors provide an upgrade from the standard three-lead monitor.
      "These new monitors give us greater diagnostic capabilities and ultimately result in faster and more appropriate treatment for heart attacks," said Kraig Dodge, manager of the North Flight ground division.
      "Our volumes continue to be strong and we needed the new technology here to provide better service to our customers."
      The steady volume increase is attributed to the fact that residents are more active and the area's population continues to increase. Both of these factors have led to the addition to a new North Flight ambulance station at the Garfield Township fire station, beginning this week.
      EMS is a vital public service, as important to a community as police or fire protection. It is a system of care for victims of sudden and serious illness or injury. The system depends on the the availability and coordination of many different elements, ranging from an informed public capable of recognizing medical emergencies to a network of hospitals and trauma centers capable of providing highly specialized care to the most serious ill or injured. The 911 emergency number, search and rescue teams, and pre-hospital and emergency department personnel are some of the critical elements necessary for the EMS system to work.
      The EMS delivery systems in northern Michigan are something to be proud of and during National EMS week, May 16-22, Munson Healthcare, the Northwest Regional Medical Control Authority and local EMS providers are asking area residents to help recognize emergence medical staffs and the critical health services they provide.