PA Fire Chief Praises Hospital for Reopening ER

Sept. 13--WILKES-BARRE, PA-- The reopening of the emergency room at Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre has the potential to save lives and will offer "far superior patient care," said Wilkes-Barre Fire Chief Jay Delaney.

The Wilkes-Barre fire department operates four ambulances -- at the Hollenback Station on North Washington Street, the South Fire Station and at Parrish and High streets. Two are staffed 24 hours per day, each by a firefighter/emergency medical technician and a paramedic, and the other two are used as backup.

On a map, Delaney showed how much closer it would be for ambulances to transport a number of patients in the city to Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre than Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Twp. or Wilkes-Barre General Hospital.

"It will definitely cut down on the time that we're out of service," Delaney said. "If we go all the way up to Geisinger Wyoming Valley, you have the fuel for the ambulance, the down time for the ambulance and the time involved to take care of the patient. Now, we will be able to go a few blocks away to Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre."

Geisinger officials announced that, while the emergency department will reopen at Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre next year, it will not be a Level II trauma center treating serious life-threatening and disabling injuries like Wilkes-Barre General Hospital and Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center.

Trauma cases include shootings, stabbings, bad car accidents and major falls. Those patients would still be taken to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital or Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, Delaney said.

"In cases of trauma, time is really of the essence," he said. "In trauma, paramedics and advanced life support can only do so much and many times, they need a trauma surgeon so that time is really critical to get them to the trauma center."

For patients with chest pain having heart attacks or strokes, Delaney said it is best to take them to the hospitals suited for that.

Excluding severe trauma cases, he said a number of patients could be transported to Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre.

"That includes some of our calls today, such as a drug overdose. When someone overdoses, getting them promptly to the emergency department is critical," he said Tuesday. "We had calls today for generalized pain, abdominal pain, weakness and shortness of breath. They were all applicable to go to the closest emergency department. For almost all of the calls, getting them to a closer emergency department certainly is the best patient care you could offer."

Delaney said the Wilkes-Barre fire department does not show favoritism for a particular hospital, but takes patients where they should go based on their emergencies.

When Delaney began his career in 1981 as a paramedic on the ambulance, patients were often transported to the former emergency room at Mercy Hospital in South Wilkes-Barre.

Geisinger Health System purchased Mercy Hospital in 2005 from the struggling Cincinnati-based Catholic Healthcare Partners.

Four years later, it slashed services and staff numbers as the growing health system sought to consolidate service lines in light of declining patient volume.

The emergency department remained open at Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre until 2009, when it became an adult urgent care center.

"I know how busy they were when I was a paramedic here in the early 80s to the late 80s," Delaney said. "They had call volume coming in from South Wilkes-Barre into Hanover Twp. and Plymouth."

Chris Woolfolk, chief paramedic for Hanover Twp. Community Ambulance Medic 9, said it also will be much quicker to transport patients from Hanover Twp. to Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre.

Three ambulances are stationed in Hanover Twp. and it takes only five or six minutes to get to Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre, compared to 12 minutes to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital or 19 minutes to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, he said.

Since the emergency room at Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre closed in 2009 and emergency care was centralized at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, Woolfolk said it has taken longer to transport patients to Plains Twp.

"The ultimate goal is to stabilize patients and transport them. When Geisinger South was closed, that delayed care," Woolfolk said. "I was upset when it closed. I don't think it should have been closed from the beginning. I'm glad they reevaluated it and I'm glad they're going to reopen it."

Contact the writer: [email protected]; 570-821-2115, @CVAllabaugh

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