CovingtonCares Magazine - Fall/Winter 2023

CovingtonCares 7 “We kind of changed the face of EMS in this area,” said Todd Jones, EMS Manager. A Paramedic Himself Jones himself is an Emergency Medical Technician paramedic who understands firsthand the need for EMS services in the community. The CCH Ambulance Service has 69 employees and handles some 10,000 calls annually in two counties: Covington and, since June 2022, Simpson. Emergency medical services everywhere face challenges these days. Ambulance calls are reimbursed at a bundled rate regardless of the amount of supplies used or time devoted to a call. Transporting a patient to a distant facility for specialized care can take an ambulance out of its service area for hours, again with no extra payment. ‘Very, Very Rigorous’ Finding emergency medical technicians can be difficult. “EMS training is very, very rigorous,” Jones said. Because of the severe workforce shortages, CCH partnered with Jones College and Copiah-Lincoln Community College to conduct driver, EMT, and Advanced EMT classes locally. The effort was funded by a federal grant. Employee Retention In addition, Jones said, “We’re doing our best to have a great employee retention program through incentives, recognition, and scheduling.” He makes sure employees have enough time off to de-stress. Jones has also made stress debriefing and counseling available to those within the department. “We do things a little differently than most places,” he said. Stabilizing Patients That includes extending ambulance service beyond its official classification as just transport. “We want to bring the hospital to the patient,” Jones said. “So our paramedics and advanced EMTS do everything they can to help get a patient stabilized before transport.” That might mean drawing blood, starting an IV, intubating a patient, or conducting an electrocardiogram. “If people see an ambulance delayed on the scene, taking a bit longer,” Jones said, “it’s because they’re trying to stabilize the patient.” Potentially, ambulances could deliver more. “The ambulance services in this area did some very innovative things during COVID,” Jones said. “We took vaccines to people. We did infusion for people who could not come to the hospital.” Community Paramedic CCH is also exploring the community paramedic concept. Such paramedics make house calls, using telemedicine to act in conjunction with physicians to assess and treat people needing short-term care at home. That could reduce emergency room congestion. “Typically, half of the patients transported by ambulance don’t really need such high-level (and expensive) treatment,” Jones said. “This is a fabulous ambulance service,” he said. “I am extremely proud of it. And we have good ground to grow on.” For emergency ambulance service 24 hours a day, call 911. Covington County Hospital Ambulance Service can also provide nonemergency transportation from 7 AM to 5 PM. Monday-Friday for stable patients who have no other transportation. For that service, call 601.837.6624. LEARNMORE “Typically, half of the patients transported by ambulance don’t really need such high- level (and expensive) treatment.” – Todd Jones, EMS Manager