Vehicle Operations

Fire's Destructive Path

Wildfires fanned by fierce desert winds consumed huge swaths of bone-dry Southern California yesterday, burning dozens of buildings and threatening hundreds more from Malibu to San Diego, including a jail, a hospital and nursing homes.

Posted Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Ambulance Strike Teams

The recent fires in California served as a testing ground for a new ambulance strike team concept. Prior to these fires, ambulance strike teams that included private providers had not been successfully deployed to an actual disaster. But the severity and ferocity of these massive fires required a unified system combining both fire-based and nonfire-based private provider resources.

Posted Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Thousands relive a disaster

As this county burned, firefighters confronted a familiar reality: too few resources and not enough personnel to effectively make a stand.

Posted Tuesday, October 23, 2007

The New National Standard for Equipment on Ambulances

Report adheres to the principle that EMTs at all levels must have the appropriate equipment and supplies to optimize prehospital delivery of care.

Posted Tuesday, October 23, 2007

EMS Units Bypassed Nearest Helicopters: Physician Says Ties to a Firm Don't Influence Agencies' Decisions

It s becoming increasingly common in the competitive air ambulance industry for people who oversee local EMS agencies to also work for air medical providers. Can such ties compromise patient care?

Posted Monday, October 22, 2007

Flaws Seen in Dispatch System for Air Ambulances

The growth in for-profit air ambulance operators nationally has given EMS providers more options, but it also has subjected them to marketing pitches and other influences that can affect patient care.

Posted Monday, October 22, 2007

Wildfires Rage in Southern Calif.

Wildfires are forcing the evacuation of nearly 250,000 people in San Diego County alone, including hundreds of patients who are being moved by school bus and ambulance from a hospital and nursing homes.

Posted Monday, October 22, 2007