Two New Paramedics Further Improve ALS Services

Tiffany Townsend, EMS Director Paul Mathewson and Jennifer Kelly

EMS Director Paul Mathewson introduced two new paramedics to the county commissioners this week: Jennifer Kelly, a paramedic from Laporte County, and Tiffany Townsend, an ALS-certified paramedic whose skills will come in heavy use with the new certification.

Mathewson told the commissioners that the necessity of ALS is not determined until the paramedics arrive on the scene of a call and, based on symptoms and other indicators, pronounce the subject to have a need of Advanced Life Support. Mathewson said that these indicators can range from skin color to profuse sweating.

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IU Health Starke Hospital to Wait to Contract with Private Ambulance Service

IU Health Starke Hospital

IU Health Starke Hospital officials have agreed to wait at least until the second quarter of 2012 to sign a contract with a private ambulance service to provide emergency transfers from Starke to other acute care hospitals.

At issue was a plan that would have cost the local EMS $100,000 if it lost the Basic Life Support patients that it has been transferring in the past.

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Starke County Council Approves Salary, Car for New Paramedic EMS Director

Starke County Commissioner Kathy Norem brought the Starke County Council up to speed on the work of the Advanced Life Support Committee at the Council’s recent meeting. Norem said that the ALS Committee hopes to have a paramedic chase vehicle in operation by the first of the year. She reviewed the time line of codes that have to be approved by the State before they can start. One is that I.U. Health Starke Hospital will agree to be the sponsoring hospital.

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