It is not difficult to figure out where many of us out here in the blogging world get our material from. Some of it is derived from frustration, and some of it from lessons we have learned that we feel the need to pass on to others. With this blog more than three years old, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where some of my material comes from. It is from my past, and from MY experiences in the years that I worked for AMR in Springfield and frankly, I could not be more proud to say that Springfield was where I spent the first twelve years of my career.
In a meeting Thursday night held by the City of Springfield’s EMS Commission, the five commissioners voted unanimously to recommend American Medical Response to handle the 9-1-1 contract in their city for the next five years. Last night I posted on my personal Facebook page that this decision was a “. . . much deserved and expected victory” for the staff at AMR Springfield, and now that I look back on it, and look back on the decision, I do not feel that statement fully
A Springfield truck with the skyline in the background.
describes the impact of the EMS Commission’s recommendation to the city.
The real winners in this situation are the citizens on Springfield because they are getting the best care that they possibly could by having the paramedics and EMTs of AMR Springfield to respond to their emergencies. AMR has had the opportunity to be in the lime light a few times in the past couple of years with the tornado of 2011 and the gas explosion of 2012 to name just a few, and while those calls were very high profile and visible, they barely make up a chapter in the story of AMR Springfield.
The things that are really important are the things that happen every day. It is not the multitude of trucks that I had sitting in our staging area on Worthington St that night, it was the other ambulances that were out still answering the “routine” emergencies that made the difference. It was not just our crews going to door to door with State PD and Springfield Fire in the Island Pond Road area of the city after the tornado hit that deserve more recognition, it was also the other crews parked up on the other side of the debris field ready to pick up any emergencies on the north end of our City.
Heroic things happen every day in every city across the country and Springfield is no exception to this. It is the medics who recognize that STEMI on a 12-Lead and call an early heart alert because that is what their training has taught them to do that matter. It is the EMTs that are able not only to recognize what calls need a paramedic to respond with them but also their ability to recognize the calls that they can handle, especially when things are getting busy to make sure that there is a crew out there to grab the next call that comes in.
If I could give one piece of advice to those who are still up in Springfield, it would be this: Always believe in yourself and remember what your mission really is. Always remember that what matters is the care that goes on in the streets. Always strive to learn something new every time you step on the truck, and always make sure that you do the best that you can for every patient you come across, not matter how serious or how minor their emergency might be.
Take a bow, AMR. You deserve your moment in the spotlight. Let’s make this a great 5 years!
Of course our friends at Channel 40 have yet to report on this.