Northwest EMS, Inc. Serving the communities of northwestern Lancaster County Annual Report 2013 Northwest EMS is very grateful for your continued support of the pre-hospital emergency service we provide to the community. As a public service organization we are constantly looking for ways to improve our coverage and quality of care. This past year, on October 1, 2013, we merged Manheim Veterans Memorial Ambulance with Northwest EMS and based a full-time advanced life support ambulance in Manheim. As a result, more residents of northwestern Lancaster County are enjoying prompt response to their life-threatening medical emergencies. Attached is our annual report for your records and information. Please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions. Respectfully, Dale E. Ressler, Board of Director's Chairman
Northwest EMS, Inc. Serving the communities of northwestern Lancaster County Mission Statement: To improve the quality of life within our service area by providing 24-hour basic and advanced life support coverage and offering educational programs relating to emergency health services. The Elizabethtown station 380 West Bainbridge Street Located in Elizabethtown Borough, the E-town station serves as our primary headquarters and corporate offices. The station houses seven ambulances, two squads (or supervisor vehicles), two wheel chair vans, a Cub Cadet ATV and a Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) trailer. The Manheim station 26 East High Street Located in Manheim Boro, the Manheim station houses two ambulances (one MICU and one BLS), as well as a wheelchair van. The Maytown station 186 Rock Point Road Located in East Donegal Township at the East Donegal Township Municipal Building, the Maytown station houses one MICU ambulance Serving our Community One patient at a time
2013 BY THE NUMBERS: Population Served 52,300 55,200 Square Miles 127.5 Square miles represent primary response area in Lancaster County Municipalities (with primary response area) Population in BLS primary response area Population in ALS primary response area Northwest EMS also has primary response area in Dauphin and Lebanon Counties Conoy Twp 13 E Donegal Twp W Donegal Twp Elizabeth Twp Elizabethtown Boro Manheim Boro Marietta Boro Mount Joy Twp Penn Twp Rapho Twp Conewago Twp (Dauphin County) Londonderry Township (Dauphin County) S Londonderry Twp (Lebanon County) # of Stations 3 Elizabethtown, Manheim, Maytown # of Licensed Vehicles 15 10 ambulances 2 squads 3 transport vans Special Use Vehicles 3 1 car for travel/training use 1 Cub Cadet/utility vehicle 1 MCI trailer Services Emergency Response (Basic and Advanced Life Support) Non-Emergency Basic Life Support and Wheelchair Transports Stand-By Services Career Staff 65 career professionals (FT & PT) 25 volunteers Operating Budget 3.3 Million Education, Prevention, and Outreach Services to the community Uncompensated Care $431,397.00 Uncompensated Care includes bad debt, contractual obligation and cost of honoring subscription membership benefits 911 Dispatched Calls 6930* *Includes dispatches that may have resulted in a cancelation or recall Includes Northwest EMS and Manheim Ambulance data Number of Patients Cared, Elizabethtown Boro 1464 - Donor 1458 Routine Transports W Donegal Twp 1156 - Donor Incidents Handled, and Standbys Penn Twp 650 Donor (By Municipality) The following municipalities are not in the primary response area of Northwest EMS: Mount Joy Borough Columbia Borough West Hempfield Twp Other locations E Donegal Twp 627 - Donor Mount Joy Twp 603 - Donor Rapho Twp 482 - Donor Manheim Boro 475 Donor Mount Joy Boro 245 Conoy Twp 207 Donor Columbia Boro 163 Marietta Boro 107 Londonderry Twp 97 (Dauphin Co) Conewago Twp 46 (Dauphin Co) W Hempfield Twp 39 S Londonderry Twp 12 (Lebanon Co) Elizabeth Twp 8 Other locations 127 Average Response Time Customer Satisfaction* *2013 data reflects pre and post-merger data Subscription Membership 2.01 minutes from dispatch to enroute 85% rated the services as outstanding or excellent 10% rated the services as average Surveys are sent monthly with a rating scale: 5 = Outstanding 2 = Fair 4 = Excellent 1 = Poor 3 = Average 6.62 minutes from enroute time to on-scene 50.04 % of the community has purchased a subscription membership
Northwest EMS is licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health as both a basic and an advanced (BLS and ALS) life support provider, and is recognized by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, as having achieved the Master Level of EMS for Children recognition. Certification levels for EMS providers in Pennsylvania include: Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Paramedic (EMT-P) Pre-Hospital RN Physicians Our personnel consists of approximately 65 career paramedics and EMTs and approximately 25 volunteer paramedics and EMTs, as well as auxiliary members and explorer post members. Northwest EMS is a not-for-profit 501C3 corporation with oversight provided by a 16-member Board of Directors which is comprised of local community leaders who offer a wide variety of professional experience. Board of Directors: Dale Ressler, Chairman Robert Enck, Vice Chairman Bill Prazenica, Treasurer Greg Gobrecht, Secretary Jay Bell Kathy Burkhart Jeffrey Butler Julie Cooper Rodney Fink Nancy Florey Scott Kingsboro James Leaming, MD Wayne Martin, EdD Miles Newman, DO Julian Richter Matt Shenk Owner, Dream Maker Bath & Kitchen Vice President/Community Ambassador, Susquehanna Bank Chief Financial Officer, Masonic Villages Codes Compliance, Elizabethtown Borough Senior System Engineer/SME, private consultant Quality Assurance Director, Pharmaloz Manufacturing, Inc. Manager, East Donegal Township (not present for picture) Attorney, Gingrich, Smith, Klingensmith & Dolan Retired President, Builders Specialty Services Former Associate Vice President for Human Resources, Elizabethtown College Executive Director, Northwest EMS Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Penn State College of Medicine/Penn State HMC Retired Superintendent, Northern Lebanon School District Physician and Medical Director for Northwest EMS Director of Communications, Evangelical Free Church of Hershey EMS Chief, Mastersonville Volunteer Fire Company; Public Safety Trainer, APCO International
Company History Northwest EMS was created on January 1, 2000, through the merger of the Elizabethtown Fire Company Ambulance and the Northwest Advanced Life Support Unit (NWALSU). Prior to the merger, the fire company ambulance, which originated in 1947, provided basic life support services to the Elizabethtown community, while NWALSU, originated in about 1980, provided advanced life support services. The merger allowed those organizations to more effectively serve the community and jointly provide basic and advanced EMS services. The new corporate name for the merged agencies became Northwest EMS, Inc. In 2004, the Bainbridge Fire Company Ambulance and the Maytown-East Donegal Township Ambulance, both volunteer basic life support services, chose to merge with Northwest. And on October, 1, 2013, the Manheim Veterans Memorial Ambulance Association, located in Manheim Borough, joined forces and also merged with NWEMS. The combined organizations, operating as Northwest EMS, now serve residents across northwestern Lancaster County and portions of southern Lebanon and Dauphin Counties. The primary response area served by Northwest EMS totals 127.86 square miles in Lancaster County with additional square miles in Dauphin and Lebanon Counties.
Services: Services include: Emergency, 911 dispatched services: Advanced life support (ALS) services Basic life support (BLS) services Quick Response Services (QRS), basic life support non-transport services Mass Casualty Trailer (MCI) services Northwest EMS also provides non-emergency medical transportation services: BLS ambulance transportation services Wheelchair transportation services Community Outreach: Northwest EMS places a high priority on outreach to the community in the form of education and prevention. Examples include: Providing CPR & Hands-Only CPR instruction to the community Providing Basic First Aid certification to the community Assisting service groups in obtaining merit badge achievements Providing stand-by services to sporting events and public gatherings Providing continuing education courses to EMS personnel (Continuing Education courses are open to any EMS provider, including EMS personnel from neighboring agencies) Providing education and prevention services, upon request to schools, youth sports leagues, community groups, etc., on topics such as concussion awareness, sports injuries and basic response/treatment, etc. Hosting Camp Lady Bug Hosting educational tours to elementary, pre-school groups and others Presenting a Mock DUI/Prom Promise demonstration to local high schools that includes a variety of safety messages for teen drivers on the dangers of distracted driving, driving under the influence and other risky behaviors
Lancaster County-Wide Communications (LCWC) is the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) which dispatches all Lancaster County emergency response agencies, including EMS dispatches for Northwest EMS. LCWC dispatched over 75,975 EMS related incidents in 2013. EMS dispatches for Northwest EMS totaled 5,805, while EMS dispatches for our Manheim communities totaled 1,125; bringing our agency total for 2013 to 6,930. LCWC uses computer-aided design technology (CAD), as well as Emergency Medical Dispatched (EMD) protocol to determine response criteria. EMS dispatches in Lancaster County are prioritized by Class 1, Class 2, or Class 3 categories. Class 1 emergencies are those calls that the caller has indicated include life-threatening situations requiring ALS dispatch and an emergency response by EMS with the use of emergency warning devices (lights and sirens). Class 2 emergencies are those calls where the caller has indicated an emergency situation, but the patient s condition does not appear to require ALS services, but does indicate an emergent response by EMS is appropriate with the use of emergency warning devices. Class 3 emergencies are those calls where the caller indicates the patient is stable, but in need of an ambulance. Response to Class 3 calls does not require the use of emergency warning devices. During 2013 53% of emergency dispatches were Class 1 (requiring ALS services) 47% were class 2 or 3, (requiring BLS services)
Northwest EMS is a company that is built on the belief that to accomplish our mission we must build on the strengths of our founding community ambulance partners and the vision that they had for EMS in the community, as well as continually develop business practices that will allow us to adapt to the changing market place. We believe that our success is measured, not only by our corporate business practices, but also on the satisfaction of our customers. What our patients are saying: I appreciated the timely arrival! Very courteous and professional Crew was very respectful Thank you for giving first class treatment I was blessed to be in such capable and kind hands The crew did an outstanding job! I was very impressed by the care & concern of the crews Great crew! It s a relief to know you are nearby Thank you SO MUCH This was my first experience with EMS and I can certainly say it was a very pleasant one These, and similar comments, help us to measure our success and to develop business and operational practices that will insure that we remain a respected leader in our community. Looking Ahead: Exciting changes are coming that will include Community Paramedicine, Mobile Integrate Healthcare, sophisticated technology, improved communications, and health information exchange capabilities. At Northwest EMS we are Serving our Community, one patient at a time. Thank you for your continued support!!!