Georgia County Government - February 2009 - (Page 16)

TRAUMA continued from page 15 of medical care. This change is encouraging EMS to transport patients to the “most appropriate” hospital. For the trauma patient, this is often a trauma center; for a cardiac patient this may be a hospital with 24-hour cardiac catheterization capability; for the stroke patient this may be the certified stroke center. I do not take issue with the experts who say this is in the best interest of the patient. However, this practice presents numerous challenges to the county officials who operate and run these EMS services. If your EMS is many miles from these centers then the transfer of these patients may mean the 911 zone this unit normally covers will either be without an ambulance or you will need to pay additional staff to cover this zone. In many areas of the state this assumes you can find enough staff The citizens of Georgia, both rural and urban, deserve to have a wellorganized and efficient trauma care system. to provide this coverage. The Georgia Association of Emergency Medical Services maintains that the cost to have these crews immediately available to transport patients to a trauma center is a “readiness” cost in the same category as the hospital paying physicians and other staff to be “on call” for trauma care; GAEMS urges the Commission to provide monies to assist in covering these costs. Aviation Services Design-Build-Operate Drinking Water Facilities & Geotechnical Engineering Information Management Program Management Wastewater Water Resources 5 A www.cdm.com Atlanta, Georgia 404 720-1400 407321_Camp.indd 1 ® ® 4 11/16/08 10:50:52 AM Valdosta, Georgia 229 259-9501 Equipment Grants In 2006 the Georgia Association of Emergency Medical Services, working with the Georgia Tech Research Institute, under a grant from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, did a statewide survey of the EMS industry in Georgia. Of the responding agencies, 54 percent of the ambulances providing emergency care in Georgia have more than 100,000 miles on the units, and 11 percent have more than 200,000 miles on the units. These miles were put on the units in emergency service, and the ambulances are expected to perform safely during emergency operations. There is no state standard or national standard that determines when an ambulance is too old or has too many miles on the unit to be reliable. The Commission has allocated $4 million for the purchase of ambulances to assist local EMS agencies in replacing these older units. The GAEMS and Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) have assisted the Commission in developing a competitive grant program that will help local agencies replace these units. At this point these monies ($4 million) have been “frozen” as part of the budget shortfall planning. Your county government and EMS leadership have received information on how to apply for this grant funding; currently, this program totals $4 million. Eligibility and application requirements can be found on ACCG’s Web site at www.accg.org. Another proposal that falls under the scope of equipment grants is the proposal to establish a Geographical Information System (GIS) system for the EMS in Georgia. These GIS units could 16 GEORGIA COUNTY GOVERNMENT 358640_G_Ben.indd 1 11/10/08 10:19:31 AM http://www.cdm.com http://www.accg.org http://www.brownandcaldwell.com http://www.gbtengineers.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Georgia County Government - February 2009

Georgia County Government - February 2009 Contents President’s Message County Matters ACCG Training Programs: A Foundation for Excellence in County Government ACCG Welcomes Newly Elected Commissioners Georgia’s Trauma System: The Emergency Management System Component Demographics Program Addresses County Planning Extension News: 4-H Camping Program Benefits Georgia Youth Research Corner: Promote Economic Development in Your Rural County County Parade Index of Advertisers

Georgia County Government - February 2009

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