AMBULANCES: DELIVERING THE INJURED

Julie Boitnott is a dispatcher as well as an emergency medical technician. The dispatchers may talk callers through CPR or other necessary steps before the ambulance arrives.

Cape County Private Ambulance Service has seven ambulances to cover Cape Girardeau County. The ambulances are located throughout the county to shorten response time.

Chuck Groshong succinctly describes the myriad changes in ambulance service:

"The days of the ambulance driver are long gone."

At one time, crews simply loaded patients into the ambulance and delivered them to the hospital.

Today's ambulance crews are highly trained professionals capable of providing initial treatment to patients before they get to the hospital.

"Everyone's goal is to provide the best care possible," said Groshong, operations manager for Cape County Private Ambulance Service Inc. "Emergency medical services have come a long way. There has been an expansion of training and skills that allow us to do more for patients in the pre-hospital environment."

Groshong said emergency medical crews today are allowed to care for patients in ways previously restricted to the emergency room.

"There is more autonomy allowed by the emergency room physicians to the paramedics in the field," he said.

Crews generally consist of two people -- one a paramedic and the other an emergency medical technician.

Paramedics receive more training and are qualified to administer certain drugs and perform particular types of procedures. EMTs are trained to perform more basic life saving measures.

Licensed for five years, paramedics must continue to upgrade their skills and keep up with advances in care to be recertified.

"It is the best way to ensure we can give the top level of care to patients," Groshong said.

Cape County Private Ambulance is based in Cape Girardeau but serves the entire county.

Two crews work 24-hour shifts, while during the high volume hours of 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., two additional crews are on duty.

The service has seven ambulances, plus one disaster vehicle equipped to handle mass casualties.

A dispatcher fields medical calls routed through the 911 system from the Cape Girardeau and Jackson police departments and the county sheriff's department.

The computerized dispatching system provides a list of questions the dispatcher asks the caller concerning the patient's condition.

By asking the appropriate questions, not only can the dispatcher provide the ambulance crew with needed information while they are en route, but, if necessary, he can advise the caller on what measures need to be taken before the crew arrives.

The North Scott County Ambulance District serves the region north of Morley to Nash Road and east of Perkins to the Mississippi River.

Two crews are on call round the clock, one at Chaffee and the other at Scott City. A third ambulance, used as a backup, is housed at Chaffee.

Crews are dispatched through the 911 dispatcher in Morley and the Scott City Police Department.

Larry Chasteen, director of the district, said one of the biggest challenges for ambulance crews in a large rural area is getting to patients in a timely manner.

Luckily, EMS workers live throughout the region and can respond to the scene to deliver basic care while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

Implementation of the 911 addressing system has also made it easier for crews to find their intended locations in remote areas.

Emergency crews have to be prepared for anything, Chasteen said, since they respond to everything from people with mild ailments to serious motor vehicle accidents or cardiac arrest.

"It is an exciting job," he said. "When the pager goes off, you never know what is going to happen next."

But being ready for anything doesn't mean it's always easy.

"By far the most difficult challenge to get through is working with sick or severely injured kids," Chasteen said," but you have to do it a lot."