By Hamilton Richardson
Elmore/Autauga News
This week, cities all around the country, including Prattville, are celebrating EMS Week and focusing on the important work that Fire Medics, Paramedics and others that assist in providing emergency medical care for those in need, do day-in and day-out.
The day of recognition began almost 50 years ago, said Deputy Fire Chief for the Prattville Fire Department Josh Bingham.
“In 1974, President Gerald Ford authorized EMS Week to celebrate EMS practitioners and the important work they do in our nation’s communities,” explained the chief. “Emergency Medical Services or EMS is a prehospital system that provides immediate, life-saving care to those who are suffering a medical emergency or a traumatic injury.”
Bingham went on to say that Emergency Medical Services can be privately or publicly owned and can be made up of Basic Life Support providers, Advanced Life Support providers, or a combination of the two. These services make up an EMS Service which is comprised of communications networks, transportation services, trauma systems, stroke systems, cardiac centers, etc.
According to the Prattville Fire Department, it began its Fire-Based EMS services many years ago by sending some of the state’s first Fire Medics to school at the University of Alabama Birmingham for their paramedic certification. Since then, the department has improved its level of training and has advanced the equipment and technology they use in the field.
Bingham said that one important aspect of EMS that people may not be aware of is how it supports hospitals.
“EMS provides prompt, efficient medical care and transport to those who are experiencing a medical emergency,” he commented. “Larger cities are beginning to utilize EMS in a community-based application to provide medical monitoring, wound care, medication administration, and other routine services in an effort to keep some patients out of the emergency room.”
The Deputy Chief said that in Prattville, emergency medical services are literally needed every day so making sure they are ready is crucial.
“Nearly 80-percent of the calls we respond to are EMS in nature,” he said. “This speaks volumes as to the important role of fire-based EMS in our community. Maya Angelou said, ‘People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’ I believe this is something that all EMS providers can relate to as we encounter untold numbers of patients throughout our careers.”
Chief Bingham, as well as Fire Chief Terry Brown and the rest of the Fire Department administration, is ready at the drop of a hat to praise those working in Prattville’s EMS.
“I am most proud of the fact that I can work with some of the most dedicated, highly-trained individuals in the fire service,” he stated.
For more information about the Prattville Fire Department or EMS in particular, visit www.prattvillepublicsafety.com
