Agenda - 03-25-2010 - 2 - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 reach a patient is 17 minutes. This increase in response times impacts area first response agencies, which provide the immediate care to the victim prior to transferring the patient to EMS for definitive care and transport to area hospitals. The unintended consequences of increasing EMS response times is extending the time that a resident having a medical emergency must rely only on basic life support capabilities of fire department personnel. This occurred 220 times in 2009 when an ambulance was not available. This places a burden on fire suppression units and their resources. Vital patient information that should be relayed to first responders is being delayed due to the increased workload and call-stacking by telecommunicators. The State of North Carolina best practice benchmark is 90 seconds for call processing. Orange County has an overall process time of 135 seconds. Performance goals cannot be accomplished without additional resources including communications personnel. While improved technology can address these gaps, personnel are still vitally important. Appropriate resources must be available to assure an equitable, high-performance service delivery system. Those resources include: medical, supervisory, communications, logistical and planning personnel; and a reliable fleet commensurate with advances in medical treatment to maintain high levels of system fidelity. An effort to bring the system up to a moderate level of performance will require additional resources to maintain pace with growth and system needs. RESOURCES NEEDED UNDER IDEAL CONDITIONS • 4 paramedics to address shortages created by the system merge in 2005** • 4 emergency medical technicians (EMTs) to address shortages created by the system merge in 2005** • 5 paramedics for a new ambulance • 5 EMTs for a new ambulance • 1 telecommunicator to balance shifts • 8 telecommunicators add an additional position to handle increased call load • Transport unit: fully stocked and operational ambulance **These staffing gaps are currently filled with part-time temporary employees. FINANCIAL IMPACT: The cost to fully implement an additional unit and added telecommunicators is $1.2M annually and $325,000 for vehicle, equipment, training and support. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Managers recommend Assembly of Government members accept the report from the Director and provide feedback and guidance on incorporating these recommendations for FY2010 -11 and future budget cycles. Current economic realities dictate that a full implementation of these improvements must be phased over several County budget cycles. However, it should be recognized that equipment, staffing and the communications elements are key components to improving emergency medical service response times as they now exist.