EMS in California Falls Way BehindEver since I moved back to California after working as an EMT in New York (Monroe County to be specific) I have found myself very frustrated over the state of local EMS. Despite Los Angeles being the birthplace of modern EMS, the level of care provided by field paramedics in most of California now falls far behind many other regions, such as Monroe County, NY.
The other day I had the opportunity to participate in the Hightower II MCI drill with the Beverly Hills and Los Angeles Fire Departments. During the drill I paid close attention to the activities of the LAFD paramedics and also snuck a peak inside their ALS drug boxes. I was very shocked to see how few meds were carried by LAFD paramedics, so shocked that I approached one of the medics to ask if they carried any additional meds. The responded by saying, "that's about it, we don't carry very much over here."
It looked to me that the only drugs stocked were very basic first-round code drugs. No cardizem, no mag, no furosemide--just to name a few. Of course, there may have been more buried deeper in the bottom compartment, but most certainly nothing like the nearly 60 medications authorized for paramedic use in Monroe County.
EMS in California is severely hampered by misconceptions by higher medical authorities as well as politics stemming from liability fears. Yesterday I finally got around to reading the September 2005 issue of JEMS magazine. At the very end I came across the "Siren Head" column where the author responded to an anonymous medic's complaints directly related to California's "mother may I?" EMS system.
I have scanned the one-page commentary and converted it to PDF format for all to read. I think it makes a very important point that needs to be pushed in California.
Click here to read the commentary (Adobe Acrobat Reader required)
posted at 13:33