What? No PIO?

“Couple Claims Ambulance Took Too Long“

I stumbled across this story on the JEMS website the other day. Click on the link, check it out and come on back to read what I have to say about it.  Okay, ready?  Another tax paying citizen is upset that it took too long for an ambulance to get them to the hospital. An elderly woman “felt ill” so her husband called 9-1-1. Tippecanoe County EMS responded to her aide in a timely manner and loaded her up for transport. Her husband and neighbor left the scene and rushed to the hospital. When they got there, the ambulance wasn’t there yet, and they had to wait for her to arrive. According to the husband stated it took an hour. The patient even made a statement to the report that she “wondered if she was going to make it.”

The service director stated to the media that according to their records, the truck took 18 minutes to get to the hospital, and that she was transported without lights and sirens. Some people might shake their heads because of the job done by the reporters, but I feel it’s a failure of the service and their public information officer (or lack of one).

When an ambulance transports to the hospital without lights and sirens, it tells me a lot about the condition of the patient. The crew did not rush the patient urgently to the hospital seemingly because there was no need to. When we transport without lights and sirens, it’s for the comfort of the patient and the safety of the crew. EMS professionals might not do a good job determining who should and shouldn’t go to the hospital, but in my experience they do a great job of determining how fast you need to get there.

The chief didn’t do a bad job considering his HIPAA handcuffs. The family and the patient were so vague about what happened that there really isn’t a clear picture painted, and he appropriately didn’t add to that patient care picture at all. What he failed to do was take a great educational opportunity for the media and the public to let them know more about what EMS is here for, and how we deliver our service.

This is a prime example of why we need more EMS focused PIO’s. Once again, we have failed to put ourselves out there and let people know what we do. The patient and her family clearly don’t get it, and depending on who watches that news story, a whole community could be misinformed too. One of the great things about having a PIO is it gives a service the chance to have an established relationship with the media, and they’re some great people to have on your side. There are some real educational opportunities out there for the public, and some great feel good stories that happen on the streets every day. Sharing those with the community could help solidify EMS as that third vital piece of the public safety model.

The promotion of our field is no one’s responsibility but our own, and throwing up our arms and saying “why don’t you get it?” doesn’t solve anything. If you want to see why a PIO is so essential, and public relation campaigns are so vital to the growth of an industry, look no further than the fire service. Public education has made fire safety and prevention what it is today, and we could learn a few things from the tactics they’ve used.

Our role in the community is complex. Gone are the days of “you call, we haul, that’s all.” We don’t just take people to the hospital anymore. We provide assessments, determine point of entry, start treatments for the emergency rooms, and even provide life saving interventions when necessary. We are care takers, not people movers. We might drive ambulances, but our job isn’t called “ambulance driver.”

The problem lies in the public perception of what we do, and what they deem important. They want to see two things: 1. The truck gets there quickly. 2. The patient gets to the hospital. Everything that happens in between is inconsequential to most people which is sad, because that is the most important part of what EMTs and paramedics are here to do.

Its up to us to clear that up with the public, and the media via the PIO is the gateway to that. Create the position, and with it, create that soap box to stand on to show your community what you’re all about.