QUINCY -- The Adams County Ambulance Service is exploring ways to help prevent supply loss and potential overstocking within the department. Plans call for the department to acquire the asset management software OperativeIQ next year to track its inventory, assets and fleet. Capt. Kyle Dixon, the department's asset manager, said the department utilizes a just-in-time ordering process.
"If we know that we use 50 pieces of this equipment in a week, when we reach a certain threshold, we need to order more," Dixon said. "That way we don't have a lot of overstock."
By using the software, the department hopes to cut losses from disposable supplies and medications that have expiration dates.
Paul Davis, director of the Ambulance Service, said the department has seen an increase in the cost of medications and disposable supplies, such as nasal cannulas, IV solution and oxygen equipment, in recent years. The department budgeted $110,000 for equipment, which is up from about $72,000 in 2013.
"Our medications are ever increasing triple-digit percentages," Davis said.
There are medications the ambulances must carry, but aren't used often.
"Cardiac drugs, we use those daily," Davis said. "Some more specialized drugs we may only use every couple of months."
Dixon has researched the software since 2012, and the department has made site visits to other agencies that use the program. He said many see supply costs reduced by 10 to 20 percent. Locally, the Marion County Ambulance Service uses OperativeIQ.
The paper checklist crews use while checking their ambulances will be moved to an electronic version.
"That's how paramedics and EMTs will request the supplies they need for their truck, so that inventory levels across the fleet our equal and adequate," Dixon said. "On the backside of the software, it will maintain the inventory levels in the supply room, so if the reorder point is 25 for nasal cannulas, then it will make a notification to reorder."
The software also monitors vehicles and provides notifications when maintenance is required.
Posted: Sep 6, 2016
In an ironic start to the week, a fire broke out at a fire station in El Paso's Lower Valley. The incident occurred at 6 a.m. Monday on San Jose Street while firefighters were asleep. Battalion Chief Carlos Franco said they came down and found one of their
Crews are still investigating exactly how the fire started, but Franco said it was some type of mechanical failure.
“The crews were in bed. They heard a loud noise in the bay. When they went to investigate, they saw one of the fire engines had heavy smoke and fire coming from under the truck,” Franco said. “They exited the building through the back and called for additional units to extinguish the fire."
Fighting the fire took seven units and 19 firefighters. The only damage was to the truck, not the building. “The firetruck is now out of commission and not able to operate or respond to calls," Franco said.
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Posted: Sep 6, 2016
As Cache County Emergency Medical Services Ambulance Administrator Jay Downs walked through the ambulance bay at Hyrum's newly constructed Station 161, he examined the facility's equipment with a smile on his face. "Before this station was completed, EMS teams stayed in an old house behind Hyrum's fire station," Downs recalled.
“Having this space here is one thousand times better than what we had before.”
The opening of the 3,000-square-foot, two-bay facility had been a priority of CCEMS for over a year. Hyrum EMS teams had previously shared space with the Hyrum Fire Department, but the growth of both organizations necessitated the construction of a new standalone ambulance facility. The Hyrum City Council approved CCEMS’ request for the facility’s space at 675 E. 50 North in June 2015, with construction beginning in February 2016.
“When CCEMS was created in 2003, Hyrum made room to allow our staff to have a presence in the southern part of the valley,” Downs said. “In the end, we both grew to the point where we needed this space. It’s good to finally have it ready and active.”
The facility officially began operations last Monday following a public open house. Downs said 23 EMS workers operate out of the new station, 10 of whom use the station as their main location. At least two advanced EMS responders are on call seven days a week at the station from 7 a.m. through 10 p.m., responding primarily to calls on the southern end of the county, including Hyrum, Nibley, Paradise and Millville.
In addition to housing an ambulance and one of four of the county’s mass casualty trailers, which is stocked with equipment to serve up to 400 people impacted by major disasters like earthquakes and fires, the facility also has an infectious control room for staff to get clean in case of contact with dangerous fluids or chemicals, dormitories and a kitchen area for on-call workers, and a fully stocked supply of medical equipment which is restocked weekly.
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