Last year (2022) the state of South Dakota set aside up to $20-million to bolster Emergency Medical Services. Nearly $2-million goes toward the telemedicine service for rural first responders. The state partnered with Avel e-Care to implement the program, and the company says they’re live in nearly 60 E-M-S agencies– including AMR ambulance service at Pierre.
South Dakota Department of Health Emergency Medical Services Director Marty Link says they hope this addresses recruitment and retention issues for the staffing of the volunteer first responder crews in rural parts of the state. He says it’s also a response to the “regionalization” of healthcare.
“Those patients in the smaller communities are transferred to the larger facilities to be cared for. And while that happens, we see EMS providers are on the road for a longer period of time, doing those inter-facility transfers.”
Avel e-Care’s Rebecca VandeKieft says when a patient is put into the ambulance, medical staff are interreacting with E-M-S crews in 20 seconds or less.
“Very quick activation – we’re live with audio and video in the back by a tablet. And really, it’s just conversational based, so we make it very easy.”
The American Heart Association’s Gary Myers says this new system paves the way for better outcomes for stroke and heart attack patients from remote areas.
“The key to this is not necessarily how fast you get from A to B, it’s how fast care starts and the activation of the downstream care teams.”
This week is National EMS week (May 21-27, 2023).
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