Clinton, AR June 29, 2015 Trauma patients who receive care from Southern Paramedic Service’s ambulance crews responding from Clinton, AR are the first EMS patients in America to receive the benefits of the company’s new Hutchison InSpectra StO2 Tissue Oxygenation Monitors. These devices help save lives by identifying trauma victims who may go into fatal shock by continuously monitoring a victim’s tissue oxygenation during resuscitation and ambulance transport.
Traditional methods of identifying shock are limited because they are not direct measures of tissue oxygenation, are impractical to implement, and may be late markers of inadequate tissue perfusion. Many shortcomings of conventional monitoring may be overcome with non-invasive StO2 tissue oxygenation monitoring, measured where oxygen is delivered to meet tissue cell needs giving it an important role in state-of-the-art care in emergency medicine and critical care. It is perfect for paramedic crews’ use; especially for those crews that must transport trauma patients whose conditions may deteriorate over the many miles the ambulance must travel to a hospital and/or trauma center as does this rural Arkansas EMS company.
Gary Padget, owner/paramedic for Southern Paramedic Service says, “Thanks to Arkansas legislators’ trauma grants, we have been able to fund our experience with Hutchison by equipping our two Clinton ambulances with this StO2 monitoring technology to benefit Arkansas patients. Young children and healthy adults who have been victims of blunt or penetrating trauma or who have been in a vehicle crash often present with normal vital signs at the accident scene, and for the first few minutes of transport because their bodies are healthy enough to initially compensate from internal injuries. Over time, those patients’ conditions can very suddenly and without warning present with profound and often fatal shock.” Southern companies’ operations manager, Allen Usrey adds, “With the InSpectra StO2 device, we can continuously monitor changes in tissue oxygenation from the moment the patient is put in the ambulance so there will be no surprising deterioration. Our ambulance crews and our patients’ destination hospitals will have fair warning regarding our patients’ potential for shock and can plan accordingly, i.e., infuse patients with IV fluids, prepare for surgery, put the blood bank on alert, etc.”
Partnering with Southern Paramedic Service is the critical access hospital, Ozark Health Medical Center in Clinton (Van Buren County), Arkansas where the community having just over 17,000 residents has made a monumental effort to bring critical care hospital services to such a rural landscape. The emergency department at Ozark Health Medical Center and Southern Paramedic Service will work together to determine the efficacy of the Hutchison InSpectra device in rural Arkansas. Based on the Clinton ambulance crews’ and the hospital’s experience relying on the device, the company will determine if it will plan to equip the StO2 monitors on all Southern Paramedic Service ambulances and those of Southern Care Ambulance (which is also owned by Gary Padget).
