Pittsburgh EMS M8 "The Ocho"

I want to take a moment to congratulate Paramedic Paula Alexander on her retirement after 28 years of service to the residents and visitors of the City of Pittsburgh. Paula, it has been my personal honor to serve beside you for the past serval years at Medic 8. Your commitment to this profession and your continued friendship has made me a better person and a better paramedic. You have raised the stock of everyone around you. I will miss our murder channel time and all of the laughs we shared, even through some of the worst calls. The City of Pittsburgh had no idea how good they had it. Enjoy this new chapter in your life and if you get desperate, sell the pencils.

Medic 8 was a proud member of this rescue operation. Pittsburgh Paramedics were once again able to administer pre-hospital blood products with the assistance of our pre-hospital physician. Medically directed rescue at its finest.

Stay safe, friends. If you know or suspect an overdose, all 9-1-1 right away. Pittsburgh Paramedics are well trained on this issue and are equipped with a myriad of tools to correct an overdose and manage withdrawal.

The Bureau of Emergency Medical Services is alerting the public to a nationwide increase in the lethality of fentanyl-laced products. Locally, Pittsburgh has seen a rise in overdoses associated with fentanyl.

While EMS does not condone the use of illicit drugs, we are committed to providing factual, evidence-based recommendations to help keep our residents and visitors safe.

All Pittsburghers are advised to remain vigilant of the signs of fentanyl overdose and to call 911 immediately if an overdose is suspected.

Misinformation is harmful and we are disappointed in this media outlet’s contortion of facts. This article, titled “Pittsburgh FF’s Rescue Worker Trapped After Collapse”, covers a recent technical rescue that our trained paramedic rescue crews responded to with the bureaus of police and fire. Throughout this medically-directed incident, the victim received point-of-care advanced life support from skilled pre-hospital clinicians. Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire members assisted, as they do at all paramedic rescue assignments, with physical manpower and were prepared for any fire suppression that may be required. All victim disentanglement and care was performed by the crews of Pittsburgh’s Bureau of EMS.

We are grateful for our other public safety teams on scene and recognize their significant roles in incidents like this one, however it is disheartening to see outlets like Firehouse.com seek to diminish and overlook our capability as a fully-equipped advanced rescue service. It is an insult to our profession and the skilled clinicians who train and prepare to provide the absolute best care in the absolute worst scenarios.

We are grateful that training, expertise, and teamwork prevailed during this complex extrication and that our ultimate goal was accomplished: the survival of this entrapped victim. We wish them a speedy recovery and are honored to be a daily part of this incredible team.

Pittsburgh FFs Rescue Worker Trapped After Collapse Pittsburgh crews said the victim was heavily pinned inside an excavator covered with debris.

“What’s taking so long?” It’s a question that we’re often asked. And we get it. When you call 9-1-1 for yourself or a loved one, it can be a scary and stressful experience; for some, it’s the worst day they’ll ever have.

Generally, there are a lot of unknowns when it comes to 9-1-1 response. It’s natural for people to develop expectations based on things they’ve seen or heard. There’re several shows out there that seek to captivate audiences with some sort of romanticized alternate reality where wild scripted scenarios are executed flawlessly by a handsome cast of celebrities. News articles often mention how people are swiftly “rushed to the hospital”, and our ambulances can be seen “blaring their horns” and weaving through the evening traffic. But what really happens between all the lights and sirens?

Ambulances, the equipment contained within, and the trained professionals that staff them have come a long way since the days of police department ”paddy wagons” and funeral home hearses, which can be identified as competents of the earliest “EMS” systems. While it is true that some matters are time sensitive and require prompt transportation (a “diesel bolus”), we’ve learned that hurrying everyone to the ambulance and simply racing off towards the hospital results in WORSE outcomes for our most critical patients. Some we are called to care for require immediate intervention where they are found; be it a bedroom, alleyway, highway median, or anything in between. Our clinicians routinely practice their skills to hone their ability to provide this life-saving care and are capable of much more than “rushing to the hospital”.

This page is seeking to address some of the unknowns by launching an educational mini-series that will focus on the equipment we carry, how it’s used, and perhaps review some fictional scenarios to discuss how EMS practices have evolved. Comment any questions you’d like answered and please consider sharing these posts as they’re published to help diffuse the ambiguity that surrounds our emergency medical services. We can’t wait to discuss what your Pittsburgh Paramedics can accomplish and how patients benefit from having their care started right in their own home. Stay tuned!

Unit Hour Utilization (UHU) is a metric used by emergency services to measure the efficiency of resources. Data displayed in this table is from the Pittsburgh City Controller’s Office 2021 audit of Pittsburgh’s Bureau of Emergency Medical Services. The UHU was determined by dividing the number of assignments each unit was tasked with by the number of hours that unit was in service for the year. Since all 13 of Pittsburgh Paramedic Rescue ALS ambulances are available 24/7 to the resident’s and visitors of Pittsburgh, they are “in service” for 8,760 hours a year. Per the report,

“The overall average UHU of Pittsburgh EMS medic units and ambulances is 0.495263, which is the highest/over utilization for EMS agencies. This means a Pittsburgh EMS unit is utilized during each shift about 49.5% of the time. Out of the 16 total medic units and ambulances, 13 are ranking at overutilization, while three are ranking at above average.”

The report goes on to note “this means that EMS units are extremely busy with little downtime and can cause fatigue and burn-out which can lead to poor patient care or outcome.”

This information assigns tangible validation to a rising concern that EMS providers have become intimately familiar with: the demand has exceeded the supply. This local data is felt nationwide, though. Our EMS clinicians are overburdened, as the report highlights, Pittsburgh paramedics are often mandated to work 18hr shifts to cover the ambulance spots needed to serve the city. Several factors have been identified as causes to include:
• Deficit of EMS Clinicians in Hiring Pools
• Increased Call Volume per Capita
• Restrictive Hiring Practices
And the issue is multifaceted. As volume increases without any adjustment in conditions, provider stress and frustration culminate, causing clinicians to leave the field in droves to search for alternative employment, thereby worsening the strain on an already fractured system.

The solution? Adapting to accommodate the ever-changing needs of the population served. Community paramedicine services have been developed in several communities that have shown to reduce frequent utilization and address chronic medical conditions before they worsen to require emergency care. Streamlining hiring practices and implementing apprenticeship programs, boosting recruiting efforts, and being involved in young / aspiring clinician’s educational endeavors may help increase applicants and encourage growth. With more applicants, additional resources could be built into daily operations to help with the workload and specialty operations to address issues such as aforementioned community paramedicine. Of course, all of this is only possible through political change and administrate advocacy, to include budget adjustments.

These changes will take time and require compromise at every level. Despite the challenges, your Pittsburgh Paramedics will be here for you and your family every hour of everyday, no matter the place. Delivering daily our promise: to provide The Best Care Anywhere!

Read through the entire audit here:https://apps.pittsburghpa.gov/redtail/images/22221_Emergency_Medical_Service_Final_Audit_2023.pdf

To continue striving to be the best, we need the best. New minds bring fresh ideas and skills. Come join one of the finest EMS agencies around.

Safe neighborhoods start with EMS! Join the team and help keep Pittsburgh communities safe! 🚑🚑

The Pittsburgh Bureau of EMS is hiring Paramedics & EMTs! Apply Today: bit.ly/3XMEf9o

**Applications close on Monday, August 28th 2023 @ 12AM

City of Pittsburgh Careers is your bridge to endless opportunities!

Wishing a speedy recovery to this NYC EMT.

EMT stabbed by patient in ambulance outside Mount Sinai West in Manhattan A private EMT suffered stab wounds to the abdomen and leg inside of a Mount Sinai West ambulance.

PARAMEDIC RESCUE - What does it mean and why is it important? Glancing at any of our trucks, you may notice that in addition to the typical ambulance markings there’s a line about Paramedic Rescue. Why? Is it just a fancy description for some run-of-the-mill EMS agency? Hardly. In fact, it’s anything but.

It makes sense that in Pittsburgh, the birthplace of the emergency medical services, you would find top tier care that drives the industry standard. But did you know that Pittsburgh EMS is also unique in the fact that we provide the city’s rescue services in addition to our proud prehospital care? Typically, we see the fire service providing rescue services to municipalities - you may be familiar with hearing Fire / Rescue. While the quality of these rescue services differs from agency to agency and some may boast a host of skilled technicians, most lack a very crucial element: Advanced Life Support (ALS) clinicians (paramedics).

In the city of Pittsburgh, residents and visitors are guaranteed to have a trove of ALS clinicians at any rescue assignment, ensuring that victims receive point-of-care treatment immediately that continues throughout the entire operation. This can range anywhere from IV access for the purpose of analgesia (pain relief), blood administration, or other emergency medication administration; advanced airway management and ventilation; or immediate ALS resuscitation if needed. These standards enable us to provide victims the highest odds of field survival and alleviation of suffering during their crisis, an opportunity that is unfortunately not guaranteed to every American municipality.

Multiple times a day, Pittsburgh EMS dispatches one or both of our heavy rescue trucks, staffed with 2-3 rescue paramedics each, to rescue assignments such as (but not limited to) vehicle accidents, hillside rescues, water rescues, fire assignments, and structure collapses in tandem with at least one dual paramedic ambulance. Additional resources are always immediately available when needed, including our river rescue boat that is staffed 24/7 by, you guessed it, rescue paramedics.

Pittsburgh EMS also has a close working relationship with our UPMC medical direction, who have furnished several physician response vehicles, which are used regularly by emergency medicine doctors to assist crews on scenes. These physicians work cohesively alongside our paramedics to provide rapid sequence intubation and pre-hospital blood administration.

Rest assured that Paramedic Rescue isn’t a fancy tagline, it’s a strong statement that describes our agency’s unique ability to provide the highest class of emergency rescue services and lifesaving medicine simultaneously. Pittsburgh Paramedic Rescue is proud to be your local world-class full service EMS agency. Thank you for any and all of your continued support!

Here's a story to give you the warm "fuzzies".....on Tuesday, May 9, a knock came at the back door of Medic 10 station in Marshall Shadeland, with a woman calling for help.

When the paramedics inside popped open the door they saw a woman with a box full of kittens, all rolled up into a ball. The six newborns had their umbilical cords wrapped around their necks.

Two of them had the placenta covering their airways as well.
The kittens couldn't move or breathe.

The two crew members grabbed the necessary equipment and were able to cut all of the cords from the babies, as well as the placenta, saving all six.

The kittens all "meowed" their thankfulness and the owner shared tears of happiness.

A reminder that Pittsburgh EMS is here for ALL Pittsburghers...large and small!

Speaking of CommonWealth Press, check out these awesome new designs from Madava Graphx! Unfortunately, no Ocho apparel will be included in this cycle (stay tuned!) but stickers are still available for purchase on the website! In the meantime, consider checking out these great products for other medic stations!

https://www.unionmerch.us/collections/pittsburgh-paramedics

The kind folks down at CommonWealth Press, who have been our most recent merch partners, are hosting a FREE Narcan training event! Events like these are just as impactful as CPR / AED training and anyone who can attend should!

next Wednesday, March 22 at 11am we will be hosting FREE Narcan training for anyone that has any interest in it. This is something we offer our employees and thought it might be helpful to open it to everyone. You are welcome to attend.

About a month after we first did this, Shannon used this training and the free Narcan that they supplied to us and saved a person's life.
you can read about it on Today.com and you just might save someone's life.

https://www.today.com/health/woman-uses-narcan-training-save-stranger-overdosing-opioids-t161883

Any questions DM or email [email protected]

Pittsburgh Bureau of EMS and the Office of Community Health and Safety, City of Pittsburgh (OCH&S) are proud to announce the implementation of a Community Paramedicine Program in Pittsburgh.

Under the direction of Pittsburgh Bureau of EMS Community Paramedic Crew Chief John Mooney and Office of Community Health and Safety, City of Pittsburgh Manager Laura Drogowski, the program will be designed to address the needs of the most vulnerable in our community.

"The City, through Community Paramedicine, has a unique opportunity to truly see these residents. Ongoing support by EMS Community Paramedics and OCH&S social workers will help connect patients with the proper health services, allowing them to remain stable in their own homes and avoid future hospitalization. This reduces their reliance on the 9-1-1 system and improves patient outcomes," - EMS Assistant Chief, Mark Pinchalk.

Read the full press release here:
https://pittsburghpa.gov/press-releases/press-releases/6016

Fantastic work by our rescue paramedics on this complex incident!

How Pittsburgh first responders rescued woman pinned under pickup In less than 10 minutes, the lives of both a driver and a pedestrian in Pittsburgh changed this week. At about 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, a gray pickup headed down an alley near Allegheny General Hospital on the North Side struck a pedestrian, police said. After dragging the young woman, who

Anyone with experience on complex incidents can attest that the first couple minutes are crucial in dictating the pace and outcome of that scenario. Pittsburgh Paramedic Crew Chief, Adam Palmer, is certainly no stranger to this concept. He has organized this robust course that highlights the importance of, and simplifies the implementation of, an incident command system from the EMS perspective. Crew Chief Palmer has drawn from years of experience and leadership to tailor a comprehensive framework that guides EMS clinicians in taking the crucial first steps in establishing command, managing their scene, assessing the need for additional resources, and navigating the most effective way to utilize them.

We highly encourage any interested persons, regardless of location and background, to enroll in this free course using the link contained in this shared article or in the comments below. Options are available to tune in virtually!

Pittsburgh’s Medic 8 wishes you all a very happy, healthy, and safe New Year! With the conclusion of the year, we received metrics for the bureau’s response to, and transport of, Pittsburghers requiring emergency medical services in 2022.

In total, Pittsburgh rescue paramedics answered 63,088 calls for service, triggering 84,917 responses from bureau units. Of those responses, 41,715 patients required transport to local medical centers for further evaluation / treatment.

Paramedic rescuers working Medic 8 noticed a slight increase in calls for service and patients transported in the second half of the year compared to the first. In 2022, Medic 8 responded to a total of 4,891 alarms, transporting 2,866 patients. Discrepancy in alarms answered and patients transported can be explained by a number of factors including (but not limited to):
• Patient’s who were evaluated and cared for adequately on-scene by our prehospital clinicians within their scope of practice, negating the need for transport or admission to the hospital
• Incidents where patients were expected but not found (car accidents without injuries etc.)
• Standing by at fire or other potentially hazardous scenes
• Persons who declined transport for further care and evaluation against the advice of prehospital clinicians
• Instances where Medic 8 provided medical backup for other bureau paramedics

Additionally, the bureau’s paramedic heavy rescue trucks boasted 8,715 responses, the river rescue boats were utilized 248 times, and there were 5 HazMat details dispatched. Our paramedic motorcycle division collectively featured 202 responses, mostly to special event coverage details or during high-volume times (i.e. The Fourth of July).

Pittsburgh’s Bureau of EMS had a busy year! We also saw the addition of new medications and clinical equipment along with an expanded rescue arsenal aboard our ambulances. We’re very excited to see how much more can be accomplished in 2023. As always, we extend a heartfelt thank you to each and every one of yinz for your continued support. It’s an honor to serve the citizens and visitors of Steel City.

Use the link below to represent your Pittsburgh Paramedics in style with these Pittsburgh Paramedic designed shirts, featuring your favorite, The Ocho! All designs are custom made and will be printed and shipped by local union print shop, Commonwealth Press (located in Medic 8’s district)! Accepting orders until January 9th and anticipating receipt of all orders, delivered directly to you, by January 2023.

https://www.unionmerch.us/collections/pittsburgh-paramedics

“Best Care Anywhere” is our multifaceted phrase that addresses how we not only strive to provide the most excellent prehospital care in the country, but that also our patients will receive this unmatched care regardless of where their emergency occurs.

Imaginably, a 25-foot fall from a cliff-side onto gravel near railroad tracks is an incredibly uncomfortable and frightening experience and it’s certainly not an ideal place to perform emergency medical care, but that didn’t stop our prepared paramedic rescuers from rising to the occasion, bringing advanced prehospital medical care to this patient in their time of need, regardless of the precarious outlying factors.

It is our hope this individual will have an expedient recovery and that our early interventions and medically directed approach to their rescue was impactful to their overall care.

Strong work, all crews!!

Unlike normal saline, the fluid bag that is often seen infused through an IV, whole blood has an oxygen carrying capability. This, among a host of other things, make it the absolute best volume replacement for patient’s suffering from hemorrhagic shock.

Since it’s founding, EMS has relied heavily on normal saline as a catch-all for volume replacement due to its availability, durability, and affordability. As we’ve learned more and more about our patient’s and their outcomes, it has become irrefutable that this practice is not only outdated, but it can harm our patient’s and diminish their chance of survival.

Having immediate access to prehospital blood products would be a literal life-changer. As mentioned in the article, several things must occur in order for this to become a reality, but Pittsburgh Paramedics should be well known by now for pushing the boundaries of what’s been deemed possible and championing new best practices.

How a pilot program that would allow Pittsburgh medics to carry blood could improve trauma victim survival rates Shooting victims have a relatively high survival rate when Pittsburgh paramedics reach them in time, and officials hope they can continue to bolster that...

We strive for excellence in all we do. Very encouraging to see that hard work represented by these impressive metrics. Great work, all crews!

We are so glad that our experienced rescue medics could pass along some knowledge to the members of Beaver Falls FD. Elevator rescues are more common than one may think, in fact they are one of the most routine calls our rescue medics respond to!

Finding yourself trapped in an elevator can be an incredibly scary thing, some people may even describe it as their worst nightmare. If you ever find yourself in this situation, the absolute best thing to do is remain calm and call 9-1-1 or use the elevator’s emergency call button. In the city of Pittsburgh, a crew of highly trained rescue paramedics will arrive within minutes and walk you through each step they’re performing from the outside. If you or someone with you has a medical condition or has suffered a medical emergency during this unfortunate event, rest assured there will be a team of experienced advanced life support clinicians immediately available throughout the entire process.

We hope this class was beneficial for both our instructors and the brave responders of Beaver Falls FD; and that the skills passed along come in handy as these folks return to serve in their community. Stay safe all!

Strong work, crews! Assisting in the field delivery of an infant is certainly one of the more unique experiences for prehospital clinicians. They tend to be high-stress situations that yield high rewards. These scenarios require one to keep a focused mind and work tactfully in caring for the mother and neonate.