When the job's too big for MERT, who else you gonna call?
Joseph O'Halloran
Issue date: 4/25/08 Section: Features
The wail of sirens and the yelp of an air horn break the silence of the night air.
Far off in the distance, the road becomes illuminated with red and blue lights as an Allegany Fire Company ambulance makes its way to the main entrance of St. Bonaventure University. On board, an emergency medical services crew prepares to treat a student who had too much to drink.
Once the ambulance arrives on location, the EMT proceeds into the building and encounters a resident assistant, residence director, two security guards and the patient. He or she is given a brief report of the patient's current condition by the university's Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT) EMT.
This is a typical emergency call received by Tim Hite, a critical-care EMT with the Allegany Fire Department Rescue Squad.
"We treat every call as a true emergency, and once we know what is going on, we begin our own assessment," Hite said.
According to Hite, assessment depends on the patient's overall mental status.
"We will both give the patient oxygen and monitor their vital signs, or we will use medications in order to help them," he said. "It all really lies in the severity of the situation."
Once Allegany Rescue transports the patient to Olean General Hospital (OGH), the nearest hospital to campus, patient care is handed over to nurses and doctors.
John Policastro, director of community relations at the hospital, explained the routine treatment for alcohol emergencies.
"The goal of the emergency department is to treat the patient in whatever condition they are in upon arrival," he said.
According to Policastro, the emergency room averages about 40,000 visits in a year for the total coverage area of the hospital, which includes most of Cattaraugus County.
Although some injuries may be alcohol related, they are handled according to the injury, not the cause.
"If a person comes in with a broken arm secondary to consuming alcohol, then we are going to treat the broken arm and classify that person as having a broken arm and not as being an alcohol emergency," he said. "Injuries are our top priority."
Far off in the distance, the road becomes illuminated with red and blue lights as an Allegany Fire Company ambulance makes its way to the main entrance of St. Bonaventure University. On board, an emergency medical services crew prepares to treat a student who had too much to drink.
Once the ambulance arrives on location, the EMT proceeds into the building and encounters a resident assistant, residence director, two security guards and the patient. He or she is given a brief report of the patient's current condition by the university's Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT) EMT.
This is a typical emergency call received by Tim Hite, a critical-care EMT with the Allegany Fire Department Rescue Squad.
"We treat every call as a true emergency, and once we know what is going on, we begin our own assessment," Hite said.
According to Hite, assessment depends on the patient's overall mental status.
"We will both give the patient oxygen and monitor their vital signs, or we will use medications in order to help them," he said. "It all really lies in the severity of the situation."
Once Allegany Rescue transports the patient to Olean General Hospital (OGH), the nearest hospital to campus, patient care is handed over to nurses and doctors.
John Policastro, director of community relations at the hospital, explained the routine treatment for alcohol emergencies.
"The goal of the emergency department is to treat the patient in whatever condition they are in upon arrival," he said.
According to Policastro, the emergency room averages about 40,000 visits in a year for the total coverage area of the hospital, which includes most of Cattaraugus County.
Although some injuries may be alcohol related, they are handled according to the injury, not the cause.
"If a person comes in with a broken arm secondary to consuming alcohol, then we are going to treat the broken arm and classify that person as having a broken arm and not as being an alcohol emergency," he said. "Injuries are our top priority."
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Bill Gates
posted 4/24/08 @ 7:26 PM EST
Didn't I just answer this?
GHOSTBUSTERS!
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