The White Falcon - 19.05.2004, Síða 4

From EMT pg. 1 -------------------------------------------
any other training exercise,” said Hollis. “The stakes are too high
to not be prepared.”
The backbone of Naval Hospital’s EMS Department is the 12
EMT qualified Hospital Corpsman who man the acute care clinic
24-hours a day, seven days a week and stand ready to cope with
any emergency medical situation that may arise on base.
All of these 12 corpsman are E-5 and below and work 24-hour
shifts, averaging over 60 hours a week.
“These individuals have volunteered to be a first-line responder
and place themselves in situations where there is a thin line
between life and death,” said Hollis. “This reflects on the charac-
ter of these individuals. Their willingness to take on this difficult
call schedule and sacrifice personal time to put themselves out as
a first-line responder speaks volumes about their character.”
Naval Hospital created the EMS Department in January 2004
to better prepare possible emergency situations that may arise
here.
“There’s a percentage of high risk, low volume emergencies
here. We established the EMS Department to address these
emergencies,” said Hollis. “Low volume emergencies like heart
problems and auto accidents are infrequent, but do take place.
This select group of corpsmen is prepared to handle these emer-
gencies.
The EMTs are divided into three teams, working 24 hours
on and 48 off. While this prospect of 48 hours off may sound
appealing to some, the EMS Department rarely gets to take full
advantage of their time off.
“There’s really no such thing as forty-eight hours off,” said
Hollis. “These individuals are constantly required to report in on
their days off for a variety of reasons. There’s no such thing as a
four day weekend for these guys.”
Sailors from the EMS Department are required to come to the
hospital, even on their days off for various training, quarters, and
inspections.
Before the establishment of the EMS Department, various
watch standers from throughout the hospital staffed the acute
care clinic, and a few qualified personnel handled the EMT mis-
sion.
The acute care clinic is now entirely manned by these 12 quali-
fied EMTs.
“1 think that the care has increased greatly, said HM2 Mark
Andrews, one of Naval Hospital’s senior EMTs. “The general
overall knowledge has also increased. The people of Keflavik are
getting a much higher quality of care.”
All members of the EMS Department are required to undertake
(Cover) HM3 Kelly Anderson and HM3 Christopher Willeby arrive at the scene of an emer-
gency call. (Top Right) Anderson and Willeby assist Lt.Cmdr. George Decker at the scene of
the accident. (Right) Anderson and Willeby remove the patient from the scene of the accident
and take him to the ambulance. The two EMT's will transfer the patient to Naval Hospital
Keflavik for further evaluation. (Above) Anderson and Willeby push the patient to the oper-
ating room after he is evaluated at the acute care clinic. (Photo by J02(SW/AW) Mat Sohl)
extensive emergency rescue training, including EVOC
(emergency vehicle operator course) and EMT basic.
The EMT Basic course is an intensive three-week
course run by the hospital’s staff education and training
department.
“1 think that the Keflavik community should feel reas-
sured that we have people who are so well-trained and
available to help them if they should ever need it," said
Hollis. “The addition of the EMS department should
allow everyone to sleep a little better. You may never need
to use them, but you’re glad that they’re there.”
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The White Falcon
May 19, 2004