EMS Magazine/NAEMT Gold Award Recipients Announced

FORT ATKINSON, Wis., Oct. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- EMS Magazine, the No. 1 educational publication devoted to the emergency medical services community, and the National Association of EMTs have announced the winners of the annual Gold Service Award: Slaterville Volunteer Ambulance Inc., located in Slaterville Springs, NY, and Baxter Regional Medical Center Ambulance, located in north central Arkansas in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains.

Slaterville Volunteer Ambulance Inc. consists of only 16 active providers, but their commitment to EMS care is huge, says squad member Beth Harrington . The group of two paramedics, three critical care technicians, three basic EMTs and eight drivers provides full ALS service 24/7, 365 days a year at absolutely no cost to patients. Average response time (call received to ambulance leaving the station) is between 5-6 minutes. Because the coverage area includes 55 square miles of rural farming country, Slaterville Ambulance realized early on that responding long distances with a BLS crew, then having to wait for ALS to arrive, wasn't providing the best patient care. As a result, an ALS provider is scheduled for every response, whether or not ALS care is needed. As an integral part of a small rural community, ambulance crew members actively participate in various community functions, says Harrington, including fire and safety demonstrations at the local school, and emergency and disaster preparedness committees.

Baxter Regional Medical Center Ambulance has been in operation since 1974 and became the first paramedic service in that area in 1985. The service covers two counties from five ambulance bases, with 10 fully equipped units to respond to a population of 60,000 residents. According to Margaret Fielding , RN, chief nursing officer for Baxter Regional Medical Center, many of those residents are retirees from the Midwest, making the average age in Baxter's coverage area 67 years. The ambulance staff at Baxter consists of 60 employees with extensive experience in EMS, including nationally trained dispatchers, EMTs, paramedics and critical care paramedics, in addition to registered nurse paramedics and EMTs, LPN/paramedics and respiratory therapist/paramedics. Like many busy services, Baxter Ambulance is heavily involved in community activities and prides itself on excellent customer service. Every patient who receives EMS care is given an opportunity to complete a customer service survey, which, for the past five quarters, has resulted in an average satisfaction score of 94.2%.

The Gold Service Award honors both a paid and a volunteer service each year for dedication, teamwork and commitment to EMS. Achievement areas include:

Each winning agency receives $1,000, plus free travel, lodging and registration for one representative for the EMS EXPO/NAEMT Annual Meeting in Orlando , FL, October 11-13, 2007, where the award will be presented at the opening keynote on October 11 . A complete profile of each agency appears in the October issue of EMS Magazine and online at www.emsresponder.com.

The EMS Magazine/NAEMT Gold Service Award is made possible by the generous support of the following companies: Everdixie, GKR Industries, Ferno, Impact Instrumentation, Laerdal, Masimo and ZOLL Medical Corp.

Founded in 1972, EMS Magazine was the first publication to serve the EMS profession and continues as the most authoritative voice in the world for clinical and educational material. The publication is the No.1 magazine in the field for editorial quality, reader interest and advertising pages. EMS Magazine reaches more EMS decision-makers than any other EMS publication. In addition, the magazine's pass-along factor plus bonus show distribution puts every issue in the hands of hundreds of thousands of EMS professionals. An independent Editorial Advisory Board guarantees peer review of all clinical material. For more information, visit www.emsresponder.com.