Chatham Emergency Services covers all of Chatham county.  It is a nonprofit entity governed by a Board of Directors and funded by charging insurance when they respond to a call.  90% of the time, their response time is less than 8 minutes.  Phil has worked in other areas of the country and he says that the equipment and system we have in Savannah is superior to others.  Savannah is very progressive in relation to the rest of the country and we are a trendsetter in EMS.  There are 40 ambulances in the county with at least 1 EMT and 1 Paramedic.  The difference between an EMT and Paramedic has to do with training and what they are allowed to administer.  EMT's train for 6 months and are able to do advanced first aid.  Paramedics train four times as long and are able to do things inside the body, ie administer meds, insert tubes, iv's.  85% of calls they respond to do not need a paramedic but they always have one on an ambulance just in case.  

 

Within 4 minutes of lack of oxygen, the brain starts to die.  If you are able to administer CPR, it will help delay the onset of the brain dying by an additional 4 minutes.  He encouraged everyone to learn CPR and to download the PulsePoint App which will alert you if someone in your area is in need of CPR.  The Red Cross offers CPR training.  He concluded his talk by talking about the future of EMS.  He believes they will become more of a triage entity meaning they will go and figure out the problem and then direct the patient to the right place. For instance, if someone needs stitches they could take the patient to an Urgent Care facility or if the patient is having heart problems, the patient might bypass the ER and go straight to the cath lab.