By The Joplin Globe
JOPLIN, Mo. — Freeman Health System recently opened its EMS Appreciation Lounge during National Emergency Medical Services Week.
It includes recliners, a fully stocked refrigerator and color television and caters specifically to paramedics, emergency medical technicians and air ambulance nurses and crews who transport patients to waiting emergency department surgeons.
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“The ER is a very busy place, a very loud place, and (EMS workers) need somewhere for themselves where they can unwind,” Freeman’s Dr. Brock Carney said in a statement. “Here, they can come in, unwind, get a snack, sit down, relax, do their paperwork, and regroup before they go back out into the field to bring us another trauma patient.”
It is located at Freeman Hospital West.
On a wall of the lounge hangs a sign thanking all EMS providers who transport critical patients to Freeman: Air Evac Lifeteam, Barton County Ambulance, Carthage Ambulance Service , Cherokee County Ambulance, Crawford County EMS, EagleMed , Freeman Ambulance Service , Grove EMS, Integris Baptist EMS, Labette Health EMS, MedFlight, Metro Emergency Transport System, Newton County Ambulance and Vernon County Ambulance.
What amenities or resources would make the biggest difference in an EMS lounge at your hospital or station?
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