Feb. 28--WHITESTOWN -- Beginning Friday, Whitestown Fire Department EMTs and paramedics will stay with their patient from the scene to the emergency room.
When a Whitestown FD unit is the first to arrive and begins caring for a patient, a WFD EMT will continue to provide care, along with Boone County EMS or Zionsville Fire ambulance to the hospital.
"This is a tremendous example of multiple agencies working together to focus on our customers and better serve our citizens," WFD Chief Joe Anderson said.
"Essentially we have been focused on increasing our standard of care within the Whitestown Fire Department and providing the best possible patient care to our customers," said Clinton Crafton, WFD's division chief for EMS and special operations.
"While the transport services provided by Boone County EMS and Zionsville Fire have always been superb, we hope to improve our internal level of service by working with these excellent partners," Crafton said.
Six of WFD's firefighters hold paramedic certificates; another 28 are EMTs, Crafton said. Three of the EMTs are training to be paramedics, he said. "That will bring our total to nine paramedics by 2014."
Long-term benefits of the change will be providing patients better continuity of care, Anderson said. It will also foster closer relationships between all EMS agencies, he said.
Anderson said WFD, Witham Memorial Hospital, Boone County EMS, Zionsville Fire and St. Vincent EMS developed policies and protocols for the arrangement.
Whitestown FD made 383 emergency medical runs last year, Crafton said.
"We are already seeing a slight uptick in the average this year," he said.
Copyright 2013 - The Lebanon Reporter, Ind.
