By Jordan Grummer
Southwest Times Record
RUSSELLVILLE, While transporting a patient on a rainy night in October about 10 miles west of Russellville, a Fort Smith Emergency Medical Services medical transport van slipped off the road, hydroplaned and rolled.
Two paramedics, a patient and a family member were severely injured in the wreck; one of the paramedics is still on medical leave because of the accident, said Tim Hearn, Fort Smith EMS’s executive director. However, the accident made Hearn think of ways he could improve the safety and technology of the ambulances.
“Technology saves lives,” Hearn said. “I fully believe that technology makes all the difference in saving lives in this area.”
That’s why Hearn has changed the vehicles used for long road trips — now, smaller ambulances with four back wheels will make that trip to Russellville — upgraded technology in all existing ambulances and purchased two new F-450 diesel ambulances with a bevy of new features.
Paramedic Tim Goodman has been driving one of the new ambulances for about two months now. He said it’s taken some adjustment because of the added height and new suspension, but he’s enjoyed the new features.
One of the most state-of-the-art features is a four-camera system that gives a paramedic an extra set of eyes on each blindspot, behind the truck and in the patient area. The cameras’ views are displayed on a small monitor split into four sections, but when a left or right blinker is used or the ambulance is put in reverse, the monitor switches to a full-screen view from that respective camera.
“With the side camera, we’re able to see more into the blind spot,” Goodman said. “We’re able to see a little bit broader and a little bit further than what our side mirror would show us.”
The cameras aren’t a replacement for the mirrors, though, Goodman said.
“It really doesn’t show up and back beyond the vehicle; it just kind of shows where that dead spot is,” Goodman said. “I believe that’s more of its intent.”
The cameras were a $5,000 upgrade, Hearn said.
“But we felt it totally necessary to make sure that we have what we need to ensure patient and medic safety as well as the people around us,” Hearn said.
Another recent addition to each ambulance is a 12-lead electrocardiogram that can transmit real-time status updates of a person who is suffering from a heart attack. The leads, or recording electrodes, gives a doctor at a hospital the ability to know what is wrong with a patient’s heart while still minutes from the hospital.
In the event of a heart attack, every second is precious, Goodman said.
“With a heart attack, time is muscle,” Goodman said. “So we don’t lose as much and there’s a greater prognosis for a full recovery.”
The standard for getting a heart-attack patient from the hospital doors to having a catheter inserted to reopen the affected artery used to be 45 minutes, Hearn said, but this technology cuts that time in half.
Other new technology that Fort Smith EMS will be implementing includes but isn’t limited to:
- Video laryngoscopes — These are used to hold open a patient’s throat so a breathing tube can be inserted, but unlike a traditional laryngoscope, these boast a high-quality LED screen that shows a paramedic the inside of the throat.
- Kawasaki Mule — A medium-sized off-road vehicle that will be used at special events. Hearn also said it will be used to reach patients who are in the woods or possibly hurt on a bike trail.
- A 24-foot travel trailer — This travel trailer will not only be used to transport the Mule, but it will also be a mobile triage station that will be used for special events. “A scenario would be like the tornado that went through north Fort Smith,” Hearn said. “Where you’ve got a lot of people injured in a confined area ... it would be easy to pull the trailer up, hook up a generator, and you’ve got a mobile triage station or emergency room.”
- Power Pro Cots — The legs of these cots automatically extend to the ground from the back of the ambulance reducing the amount of stress on a paramedic’s back.
Hearn said each upgrade is linked to technology and safety.
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