Public Education/Public Outreach in EMS

[Guest guest]

Hello All,

I am the PO/PE officer for my EMS service, and have recently begun

taking a good, hard look at what we do, and what we can do for the

residents within our service area. Very often when we visit places

(senior centers, daycares, etc) unannounced, people ask " what's

wrong? " , and though i understand how they would think that, i feel that

we could have more " face " time with the community, and educate them on

who we are, and what we can do beyond emergency care.

I would like to solicit ideas from the group about

outreach/education/injury prevention that they are presently doing, have

heard of others doing, or tried and didn't really work. I am compiling

a list of daily, weekly, monthy, and yearly events, and am open to any

suggestions, which i will present to my Director and fellow employees

for their input. I will tell a little bit about our service, it's

residents, and future plans to help with ideas. Again, please don't

hesitate to make any suggestions and if so desired, email me directly at

daniel.murphy@... which i receive on

my mobile as well, and i will promptly answer as needed. My goal is to

meet with the Director some time early next week (July 29th - August

1st) and then the employees and implement things as soon as possible.

Our service area is comprised of approximately 25,000 persons and we

respond to approximately 2300 calls per year. We are a 3rd service of

the City of Lockhart, subsidized by Caldwell County. We cover

approximately 2/3 of the northern part of Caldwell County borderin with

Hays, Bastrop, and Counties. We have 12 Full time field

employees, 11 EMT-P and 1 EMT-B with 2 ALS units responding 24/7/365.

Both units are stationed within the City, which is comprised of

approximately 11.3 square miles.

The City of Lockhart and Caldwell County has a broad mix of residents

from lower middle class to working class, and even a significant

population below the poverty line. We have a large population both in

the city and county that do not speak english, primarly only spanish.

We have a large population of senior citizens, and a few chronic

individuals with a wide range of problems, some several miles from the

nearest station.

Our arrival time goal in the county are 15 - 20 minutes, and we have

several aeromedical resources available. We are also supported by a

paid FD within the city, and VFD within the county (some more organized

and funded than others), and a medical assist team comprised of all

levels from ECA - EMT-P (mostly off duty LEMS personnel) who are

provided with first in bags up to EMT-I level of care. There are

several AEDs assigned throughout our service area (Each CCSO SGT

vehicle, several first responder organizations).

We have an in-house AHA training center that provides CPR/FA twice

monthly to the public, and in the past we have instructed EMT-B and

EMT-P classes with good attendance.

The general consensus among city planners and persons in the know is

that the City and County, particularly in our service area with its

close proximity to Austin, is that we will soon experience a population

boom that could possibly double our population within a few years. I

know that in the next few years the Hwy 130 segment will be constructed,

and it will run right through our service area causing a significant

increase in traffic and therefore motor vehicle based EMS needs. It has

been said that in the near future we will be adding at least one station

with more personnel, and of course the necessary equipment needed to

function.

Sorry for this post being so long, again please feel free to send your

ideas to either the group and/or to my personal email

daniel.murphy@... .

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation

NREMT-P

Public Education/Outreach Officer

City of Lockhart EMS

www.lockhart-tx.org <http://www.lockhart-tx.org>

The opinions, facts, figures, and statements expressed in this posting

are of myself alone and not necessarily the opinion, view, and/or of the

City of Lockhart, it's governing bodies, the City of Lockhart EMS, or

any other individuals or member bodies mentioned within.