The Emergency Medical Services Division is compromised of an EMS
Battalion Chief, EMS Coordinator (RN/Paramedic), Assistant EMS Coordinator
(Paramedic), and three EMS Lieutenant / Paramedic shift supervisors. The
EMS Division is responsible for the coordination and operational readiness
of the department's EMS system. The EMS system is designed to meet the
out-of-hospital emergency medical care needs of the citizens and visitors
of the City of Garland in a timely and efficient manner, so as to most
appropriately safeguard against the loss of life, disability, and undue
pain and suffering. Our system operates by sending MICUs (Mobile Intensive
Care Units) to all incident that require patient treatment. This encompasses
all medical calls (sick calls, heart attacks, strokes, stabbings, gunshot
wounds), motor vehicular collisions (MVC), and one ambulance is assigned
to go to all structure fire for manpower and/or any medical needs that
may arise. Activities performed by this division include implementing and
monitoring prehospital care, continuous quality improvement programs, maintaining
emergency medical technician (EMT) and paramedic state licensing records,
as well as updating and clarifying EMS policies and procedures. The EMS
Division coordinates annual and semiannual state-mandated training (continuing
education / CE), and provides recommendations and technical support for
departmental EMS-related training. The EMS Division works with the University
of Texas Health Science Center in Dallas which is where all of the department
paramedics are trained. A paramedic candidate is in school for approximatley
five months for training (classroom, hospital & ambulance rotations).
The Medical Control for the GFD is "Biotel" (bio-telemetry). It is located
in the Emergency Department at Parkland Memorial Hospital. It is staffed
with nurses (RN), paramedics, and medical doctors around the clock to meet
the needs of not only GFD but also Dallas Fire Department and many other
suburbs. All fire suppression personnel are EMT trained and approximately
110 fire suppression personnel are Paramedic trained. All Garland Fire
Department ambulances are ALS (Advanced Life Support) equipped and all
Truck and Engine Companies now have Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs).
We have available for you the updated version dated May 1, 2007.
The new
protocol set is available on the BioTel
website, and the EME
website, for direct downloading.
IF YOU DON'T KNOW CPR........LEARN
IT!
YOU COULD SAVE A LIFE.
