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In this week’s Inside EMS Podcast, hosts Chris Cebollero and Kelly Grayson envision an EMS future where systems use mostly BLS, with some ALS to intercept calls.
Cebollero explains that when he became the chief of Christian Hospital EMS in 2010, he encouraged EMT-B providers to become paramedics.
“Systematically, I was making an all-ALS system,” Cebollero said. “I’ve got to tell you man, I think I made a mistake.”
With the emergence of community paramedicine and mobile integrated health care, in the next five years he said he would like to revert to an all BLS system, envisioning two EMTs on a truck running calls with ALS intercept, and paramedics working with high-risk readmission patients, reducing lengths of hospital stays, and taking care of issues that don’t necessarily require hospital treatment.
Grayson agreed, saying a tiered response system with a few well-trained paramedics and basic EMTs handling the bulk of patient care is most efficient.
Cebollero said there still needs to be ALS, but that basic EMTs can do a lot more than what they often do, and there should be a better educational track for professional development and career sustainability.
News
In the news, Grayson gives Cebollero a pat on the back for a recent column that describes how having a clear and focused vision statement led to a successful response by Christian Hospital EMS during the Ferguson, Mo. riots.
‘I think it speaks to pretty fundamental elements of leadership,” Grayson said.
Cebollero said he encouraged his workforce to think about how they wanted to be perceived during the civil unrest, and inspired employees to give the EMS industry something to be proud of.
“Our career field is watching this,” Cebollero said.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, they discuss a former Wash. EMS chief charged with a sex crime, who EMS providers say also committed fraud by forcing them to bill Medicare at the highest rate possible.
“It just amazes me that people are still trying to get away with things when they know they’re going to get caught,” Cebollero said. “This is just a double whammy.”
Along the same lines, they discuss Philadelphia firefighters who face disciplinary action for having intercourse with a female medic.
“This is 2015,” Grayson said. “We don’t goof off, have sex, and engage in inappropriate behavior in our workplace,” Grayson said.
Incidents like this give EMS a black eye, and causes the public to lose trust in the industry, Cebollero said.
