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ESTABLISHED APRIL
26, 1976
The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Department was
established as the first "third service" Public Safety Department in the state
of Massachusetts. As years passed more cities and towns followed suit. At that
time the City was using a private company to provide ambulance service for the
City of New Bedford. The private company was having internal problems and
decided that they could no longer provide ambulance service for the money they
were receiving. When prompted for additional funds, the City assessed the
situation and decided it was possible to provide similar service for a lesser
amount. Patients would be billed by the city directly for any outstanding
balances their insurance did not cover.
The City service started with two ambulances on a
twenty-four-hour a day, seven day a week schedule. In July 1976, a third
ambulance was added and was available five days a week between the hours of
8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. In February of 1981, when Proposition 2 1/2 was
adopted, the Emergency Medical Service Department was dealt a severe blow, with
the reduction of its work force. The result of lost income caused the third
ambulance to be removed from service.
In September of 1981, the administration decided to
reinstate the third ambulance. At which time, the EMS department put the third
vehicle back into active service as a daytime ambulance between the hours of
7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. The reinstatement of this ambulance was due largely to
the recognized need to respond more quickly to persons requiring immediate
medical attention. When two ambulances were committed to patients, patients had
to wait longer periods of time for an out-of-town ambulance to arrive at the
scene.
Currently, EMS is averaging 30 ambulance calls per day,
with three ambulances responding under the command of a Field Supervisor. Three
ambulances serve as reserve units, this allows for regular maintenance and
service to be done without interruption in delivery of patient care and for
additional units to be pressed into service for large-scale events or unusual
incidents.
In 1981, the Emergency Medical Service Department, under
the Direction of Charles Rainville, put together a Mass Casualty Support Unit
at a cost of approximately $10, 000. The unit was made from a trailer that had
been used as part of a "Play-Mobile" program for the City's Park Department,
with most of the funds coming from Community Development. At the time it was
estimated by EMS that a unit like this, if commercially built, would have sold
for approximately $65,000. With the talent and initiative of the Department,
the cost was kept much lower. The need for this type of unit was justified at
the time, by the following reasons:
- The growth of construction of
high-rise housing
- The increased activity at the
New Bedford Airport
- The interstate highway system
with a high volume of civilian and industrial traffic.
- The increase of
tourism.
- At the time no agencies in the
city or surrounding communities had a contingency plan that dealt with multi
trauma and mass casualty incidents. (Lessons since learned since Sept. 11)
This project proved so innovative, that requests for
presentations and assistance in the development of such units, came from as far
away as Canada.
In 1983 the level of Service of New Bedford EMS was
upgraded from the Basic Level to the Intermediate level. This allowed EMT's to
perform advanced life saving techniques such as IV infusion, esophageal
obturator devices and the use of medical anti-shock trousers. Although the City
paid for the cost of the education for each employee, they attended the course
on their own time.
In 1984, the City purchased a four-wheel drive ambulance
to enhance service. This proved to be the first vehicle of its type to be
inspected by the State Office of Ambulance Regulations. After the inspection,
New Bedford EMS received numerous calls and inquires from other EMS agencies in
the New England area regarding this vehicle.
In February 1990, EMS trained its EMT's in the use of
Automatic Cardiac Defibrillation. Again, employees received the training at no
cost to the City and a campaign was started to purchase three automatic
defibrillators with donations from service organizations in the New Bedford
Area.
Recognizing the importance of immediate recognition and
bystander involvement became paramount in 2000 and NBEMS began staunch
campaign, under the supervision of Capt. James Trout, then the Training
Officer. The result was placement of Semi-automatic defibrillators in public
buildings and schools, as well as an aggressive approach to teaching CPR that
resulted in the City of New Bedford having the highest number of public access
defibrillators available in the SouthCoast region. This program continues to
grow and is under constant scrutiny to find new and improved equipment to allow
it to remain current. As part of this commitment to community education, we
provide support services for the New Bedford High School Emergency Medical
Technology program, a course that allows High School students to take a basic
EMT course and prepare for taking the State Basic EMT exam. We are also a
Precepting site for Paramedic Interns who need to fulfill the requirements of
their Paramedic Training Program.
In May 2003, with the closing of the Paramedic services
provided by St. Luke's Hospital, NBEMS upgraded to the Paramedic level. State
of the art ZOLL M series monitors, with ETCO2 and twelve lead capability were
chosen by the department to allow our Paramedics to perform their jobs with the
finest equipment available. By being an innovator in it field, NBEMS, has shown
the way in putting the newest, and sometimes-unknown devices into practice
months or years ahead of others. Trying to remain a leader in the field of EMS,
while providing the highest level of patient care has resulted in NBEMS seeking
out ways to stay on top. Recently we have become part of the Department of
Public health's Ambulance Task Force (ATF 3-D) in the effort the support other
EMS agencies in times of catastrophic disaster. In 2006 we became a "host site"
for HSS International, an organization that deals with Law enforcement and EMS
agencies in the training of Tactical Teams worldwide. NBEMS also houses and
maintains an updated version of its own Mass Casualty Support Unit provided by
the Southeastern Mass EMS Council Region 5. The Mass Casualty Support Unit
originally built in 1981; although weathered, is still in service and was
updated at the request of the Office of Ambulance Regulation following the
World Trade Center attacks This innovation continues with the ZOLL AutoPulse
System soon to be deployed on all of NBEMS' front line ambulances. This device,
although new, has been shown in studies to make a considerable difference in
patient outcome n the presence of Cardiac Arrest.
New Bedford EMS remains committed to " making the
difference" for our residents, visitors, guests and co-workers well into the
future. |
