By Rita Savard
Lowell Sun
LOWELL, Mass. — Shooting down allegations that the city’s ambulance system was in “chaos,” the Board of Health approved the creation of a committee charged with reviewing the quality of emergency medical services.
Dueling paramedics last night didn’t see eye to eye over the way the city’s contracted ambulance provider, Trinity EMS, has been managing Advanced Life Support services.
Dr. Ryan Searle, who oversees ALS services at Saints Medical Center, said he is concerned that “competing ambulances” in the city would be detrimental to patients.
By adding paramedics without any increase in population, the number of critical patient contacts for individual paramedics decreases. Patient contact, said Searle, helps maintain a paramedic’s skill and competency.
Board members were outraged at any assumption that it changed the system by adding another vendor.
“We have one ALS provider, and that’s Trinity, who has a contract with the city,” said board member Bill Galvin. “They haven’t changed anything. GLEMS (Greater Lowell Emergency Medical Services) seems to be the one to have put more vehicles out on the road. The idea you can add more trucks on your own just doesn’t make any sense.”
Trinity is responsible for all emergency medical services in Lowell, including ALS. Trinity subcontracts additional ALS services through GLEMS, an independent service operating out of Saints Medical Center.
GLEMS cannot transport patients, but when advanced life support is called for, Saints’ skilled emergency responders can provide life-saving assistance and stabilize a patient for transport to the hospital.
Trinity also has skilled ALS personnel with one specific ALS ambulance staffed in Lowell 24/7, along with a fleet of basic life-support vehicles.
But a tug of war over who can provide the better advanced services ensued when Trinity’s ALS team and the Saints ALS team arrived simultaneously at calls more than once.
To help the EMS providers reach an agreement about data and quality, the board last night tasked Trinity with setting up a subcommittee to review services. The committee will include members from the Saints team, along with other medical experts in the community.
“The services provided in Lowell are among the best in the nation,” said Trinity President John Chemaly. “By working together, we can make sure it remains a model system.”
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