Nature Coast EMS in the News

May. 18, 2009 Nature Coast’s Gabriel Trujillio wins EMT of the Year Award

May 29, 2009 Nature Coast EMS hosts EMS Community Partners’ Health Fair

Jan. 8, 2010 Nature Coast EMS dedicates new facility

Jan. 8, 2010 Thursday fire damages mobile home in Hernando Mobile Home Fire



Nature Coast EMS Press Releases:
Jul. 27th, 2009 For Heart Attack Victims- Time is Muscle
May 29th, 2009 Nature Coast EMS hosts EMS Community Partners’ Health Fair
May 18th, 2009 Nature Coast’s Gabriel Trujillio wins EMT of the Year Award.
Jul.22nd, 2008 Nature Coast EMS Staff Speak at National Conference on "ICE" Induced Cooling by EMS
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March 31, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Mike Hall
352.249.4710(Direct)
mikeh@naturecoastems.org

Nature Coast EMS and NFL Players To Publicize National EMS Week:

Lecanto, Florida: Nature Coast EMS paramedics and EMTs were recently visited by former Tampa Bay Buccaneer punter, Mark Royals; Atlanta Falcons kicker, Matt Bryant; San Diego Chargers running back, Michael Bennett and their community liaison David Williams in an effort to get to know one another better and to assist Citrus County’s 9-1-1 ambulance provider with building awareness of upcoming National EMS Week. Says David Williams, “I have taken these guys (referring to the NFL players) to visit with law enforcement and fire fighters here in Citrus County and we just felt we were amiss in not engaging with the County’s EMS heroes as well.”

 

In addition to the players spending time meeting EMS crews at area hospitals and lunching with EMS team members at Mochellos Italian Restaurant in Homasassa, conducting photo shoots and video interviews, Mark Royals’ visit to 'Nature Coast EMS’ headquarters in LeCanto, Florida included a tour, a quick CPR lesson and a demonstration showing how paramedics apply an advanced airway. Videotaped congratulations for National EMS Week by all the players will be part of a TV public service announcement scheduled to broadcast in May 2010.

Nature Coast EMS is the not-for-profit exclusive provider of Advanced Life Support 9-1-1 ambulance services for all of Citrus County, Florida. The company offers critical care paramedics for Specialty Care Transports, 9-1-1 emergency and non-emergency ambulance services, special event medical standby services and EMS education services.



May 18th ’09

State of Florida’s EMT of the Year Awarded to Citrus County’s Gabe Trujillo

{Lecanto, Florida}-The Florida Department of Health (DOH) Bureau of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) recently announced the results of the Bureau’s 2009 Excellence in EMS Awards naming Nature Coast EMS’ Gabriel Trujillo the Florida State EMT of the Year. According to the DOH, “the EMT of the Year is awardd to an EMT whose job responsibility is direct patient care and who has demonstrated independent initiative in the areas of quality assurance/improvement, patient care, public access, medical control, disaster preparedness, public education and/or training and support, involvement and dedication to their EMS community and profession.”

Gabriel Trujillo is a full-time EMT with Nature Coast EMS in Citrus County. Mike Hall, President/CEO at Nature Coast EMS says, “In addition to his life saving duties responding to 9-1-1 callers’ requests for help, Mr. Trujillo continually demonstrates exceptional qualities in public education and training for Citrus County youth and adults. We’re very proud of him and congratulate him on his well deserved recognition.”

A former Boy Scouts of America Explorer himself, Gabriel enthusiastically assisted in the development, recruitment of members and implementation of the organization’s Nature Coast EMS Explorer Post #605. He also serves as an EMS education advisor to the post. Additionally, Gabriel works with the Explorers and the Explorers’ parents to coordinate the Post’s involvement in special event medical standby assignments at horse shows, festivals, concerts and other events. Gabriel also participates in the Nature Coast EMS Citizens’ Academy as an instructor who builds awareness among the interested adult members of the County who are looking for hands-on awareness regarding the skill set and educational requirements of the EMS providers who serve county citizens’ emergency healthcare needs every day. Gabriel has been certified by the American Heart Association as an HCP instructor. He was previously named the Firefighter of the Year by Dunnellon Fire & Rescue and as Public Safety Hometown Hero by the Dunnellon Chapter of the American Legion.

May 29th, 2009

Nature Coast EMS hosts EMS Community Partners’ Health Fair
{Lecanto, FL} -- Nature Coast EMS (the not-for-profit 9-1-1 ambulance provider for Citrus County) celebrated the American College of Emergency Physicians’ proclaimed National EMS Week theme “EMS- A Proud Partner in Your Community” with a variety of events and recognitions including an EMS Community Partners’ Health Fair for Citrus County residents and visitors. Citrus County visitors and residents, parents and children were invited to participate in a day of EMS awareness, health education and fun.

Event details are listed below:
Iron Chef Competition: An Iron Chef type of competition occurred between fire department EMS 1st Responders and Nature Coast EMS staff members. Event attendees voted for the winner.

“What EMS Means to Me” Poster Display: The resulting art works of Nature Coast EMS Children’s Art Project were displayed during the Health Fair/Open House Event. Citrus County’s Elementary Age Children were asked to create an artwork depicting the theme “What EMS Means to Me”

EMS Equipment Demonstrations: Nature Coast EMS will demonstrated the functionality and benefits of EMS equipment including the new Zoll 12-Lead ECG cardiac monitor/ pacing and defibrillator devices that are now being used in Nature Coast EMS ambulances.

Lunch for Attendees: The Nature Coast EMS Explorer Post #605 served lunch to all attendees.

The event also featured specialized information booths for Citrus County Community Resources, Nature Coast Volunteer Center, Response Link, Florida Highway Patrol and many others. Special health screening booths such as Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar and EKG were set up by Nature Coast EMS. The esteemed Kinnard Chiropractic clinic was also present to set up EMS Health Care Screenings. A Medical Helicopter Exhibit was of special interest to attendees as well as a Hazard House Exhibit, which was a very interactive way to spike the interests of families and children present.


Jul.27th, 2009

For Heart Attack Victims- Time is Muscle Nature Coast EMS Implements New Life Saving Technology
{Lecanto, FL} -- For heart attack victims, time is muscle. With the goal of exceeding the 90 minute standard time for heart attack patients to receive the benefits of reperfusion (Re-etstablishing an oxygen rich blood circulation through the heart muscle) through cardiac catheterization, Nature Coast EMS recently equipped its paramedic ambulance crews with fourteen (14) newly purchased Zoll E Series cardiac monitor/defibrillators.

Nature Coast’s new Zoll E Series cardiac monitors/defibrillators offer state-of-the-art technology for Nature Coast EMS paramedics with the ability to provide 12-lead electrocardiograms to receiving hospitals. This means that field medics will now be able to take a reading of the heart (12 views) and immediately transmit the readings though wireless phone technology to Citrus County hospitals. By doing so, Nature Coast EMS can reduce the time a physician needs to assess a heart attack victim’s condition as well as shortening the time for Citrus County Memorial Hospital, the County’s only designated receiving hospital for patients whose electrocardiograms show a condition called “ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI), to prepare the staff and equipment for a patient’s immediate heart catheterization or reperfusion Due to these efforts, Citrus Memorial Hospital’s average time from receiving the patient in the ER to the time cardiac catheterization begins is an impressive 83 minutes. Besides being better able to prepare for the patient’s arrival, now doctors can also provide more comprehensive medical direction to the paramedics while a patient is in transit to the hospital. In addition to 12-lead EKG monitoring of the heart, these new Zoll E Series cardiac monitor/defibrillators can measure blood pressure, carbon dioxide readings, perform heart pacing and pulse oximetry, all critical readings for improving cardiac patient outcomes.

Considering the fact that more than 1,000 lives are lost each day in the U.S. to sudden cardiac death and the fact that survival rates are at a dismal 5%-15%, Mike Hall, President and CEO of Nature Coast EMS is elated over his agency’s new acquisition of the Zoll E monitor/defibrillators. “We are proud of our staff’s 97 percent ability to immediately assess whether or not a patient is one of the nearly 120 heart attack victims we treat each year. The purchase of the most up-to-date emergency medical technology possible combined with the compassionate care of our health care professionals enables the whole EMS team to impact a positive result for these patients with more frequency than ever before.”

Nature Coast was able to procure these fourteen (14) new Zoll E series monitor/defibrillators through a State of Florida EMS Grant. They were delivered the week of May 3, 2009 and field personnel began training on the new equipment soon after.

Nature Coast EMS is a 9-year old, not-for-profit foundation model. The organization works for the Citrus County Commission on contract basis to deliver emergency medical services. Supported by a staff of over 60 health care professionals, Nature Coast EMS responds to approximately 19,000 9-1-1 emergency and non-emergency calls annually, deploying an active fleet of seven ambulances 24-hours a day.



July 22, 2008

Nature Coast EMS Staff Speak at National Conference on "ICE" Induced Cooling by EMS
ICE (Induced Cooling by EMS) Therapy Results Astounds Physicians and EMS (Emergency Medical Service) Professionals at National EMS Clinical Conference in Orlando, Florida

Orlando, FL -- Speaking at the 34th Annual ClinCon Conference at The Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, FL, on Friday, July 11, Florida-based EMS Medical Director Dr. Mary Ann Kolar astounded physicians and EMS professionals with a presentation on the impressive results of the Induced Hypothermia treatment protocol of post cardiac arrest patients in Citrus County, Florida. The presentation by Dr Mary Ann Kolar and Chief Training Officer, Jane Bedford, RN, CCP included a report on Nature Coast EMS's treatment results citing the national average of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients that regain a pulse is 6.4% as reported by the American Heart Association, in Citrus County, 27% of cardiac arrest patients regain a pulse in the care of Nature Coast EMS. A patient experiencing a cardiac arrest in Citrus County has a 4 times greater chance of surviving than a patient experiencing a cardiac arrest somewhere else. For the patients that remained in coma after experiencing an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest that met the guidelines for induced hypothermia, 100% of these patients have walked out of the hospital, neurologically intact.

This simple treatment is able to bring a patient from a virtually unrecoverable condition of coma after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest to waking up and going home. Richard Greenman and Paul Russell, two survivors, spoke to the group in an effort to encourage the physicians and EMS professionals to bring this life-saving treatment to their local EMS services and hospitals. "I just want to say 'Thank You' for what you do," said survivor Paul Russell. Mr Russell is now back at work at Publix after experiencing a cardiac arrest at home in March. Both men shared their experiences and said they only have short term memory loss related to the day of their cardiac arrests.

Nature Coast EMS was the first EMS service in Florida to offer the ICE protocol in partnership with Citrus Memorial Hospital, the first rural hospital in the nation to offer induced hypothermia for post cardiac arrest patients.

The ClinCon Conference is designed to create an educational experience that will help EMS Personnel provide the highest quality prehospital care to their patients.

Nature Coast EMS is the sole provider of advanced life support in Citrus County, located north of Tampa on Florida's nature coast.


Source:
http://www.emsresponder.com/web/online/EMS-Magazine-Online-Exclusives/Nature-Coast-EMS-Staff-Speak-at-National-Conference-on-ICE-Induced-Cooling-by-EMS/22$8151