The James O. Page Charitable Foundation and the University of California, Los Angeles, have launched a special collection from the archives of Jim Page. The collection features original articles, correspondence, speeches, audiotapes and even a video of the last lecture Page gave. Heralded as the father of modern EMS, Page was the founding publisher of JEMS, the Journal of Emergency Medical Services. An attorney and fire chief, he was known for his insightful writing and speeches and his love of EMS history. Page died from sudden cardiac arrest in 2004.
The collection is housed at the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library at UCLA and can be accessed by the public by making an appointment. The collection’s website, jopcollection.info, makes dozens of articles and various multi-media materials available, as well as information about the library’s location, hours and contact points. The collection was endowed by the James O. Page Charitable Foundation through a grant from the Physio-Control Corporation.“The online aspect of the collection will continue to grow,” said Keith Griffiths, president of the James O. Page Charitable Foundation and a partner with Page at JEMS. (Griffiths is also the publisher of Best Practices.) “This is just the beginning. We’ll be scanning and adding new material to the site every month, as well as correspondence, photos, audiotapes and materials from anyone with a connection to Jim who would like to contribute.”
Griffiths said the collection intends to attract the archives of other EMS pioneers and to become a national EMS library, the only one of its kind. As part of this effort, it will collect interviews with EMS icons and leaders, ensuring that their perspectives will be saved for generations to come.
The state of California is creating regionalized stroke-certified hospital systems to enable ambulance crews to deliver stroke patients to emergency departments that can provide immediate specialized care. Los Angeles became the ninth of the state’s 31 local EMS authorities (LEMSAs) to develop such a system, which launched Nov. 16, 2009. With these stroke systems serving the state’s largest population centers, a majority of Californians are now covered by stroke centers, said Jeffrey Saver, M.D., director of the UCLA Stroke Center at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
There are approximately 69 hospitals in the Los Angeles area that have an emergency department and receive adult emergency patients, according to Saver. Of these, nine currently serve as approved stroke centers. “We anticipate that over the next one to two years, another 20 to 40 hospitals will be joining the system,” he said. “We already know there are several hospitals working through the credentialing process.” Hospital participation is voluntary, but Saver anticipates a 60 to 90 percent participation rate at full build-out, based on the experiences of other LEMSAs.
In accordance with the recommendations contained in the strategic plan of the Brain Attack Coalition, the state LEMSAs will develop two-tier systems, with the majority of hospitals serving as primary facilities and a smaller number serving as comprehensive centers. All of the Los Angeles hospitals are currently primary stroke centers and can provide basic services, such as delivery of intravenous tPA and in-patient supportive care. Comprehensive centers, when certified, will provide such specialized services as neurointensive care and neurosurgical intervention.
The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) hosted a three-day test of 16 leading suppliers’ Next Generation 911 (NG911) system components. The tests, held at the November 2009 inaugural NG911 Industry Collaboration Event at Texas A&M University’s Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center, were based on standards developed by NENA’s technical committees, the Internet Engineering Task Force and other standards-development organizations.
Only standardized or open interfaces were allowed to participate; no proprietary vendor components were tested. The Industry Collaboration permitted a full, almost real-world test of interoperability between multiple vendors’ components using the same test scripts to aid the development of NG911. Participating vendors learned what product changes were necessary to achieve interoperability between system components and between NG911 systems.
This was the first in a series of NENA events that will address different aspects of NG911 development and readiness. NG911 is a system composed of IP-based networks that augment the current E911 system. More information is at nena.org.
— Aimee J. Frank, contributing writer
