Emergency Services
Cumberland County Mayor Allen Foster Receives EMS Advocacy Award
Gatlinburg, TN–
Cumberland County Mayor Allen Foster received the 2022 Tennessee Ambulance Service Association (TASA) John Fitzsimmons EMS Advocacy Award at the annual TASA conference on February 23, 2022. The crystal trophy goes to an EMS supporter that exemplifies outstanding advocacy for the Tennessee EMS System and has significantly contributed to the betterment of Tennessee EMS at the local, state, or national level. The award is named after John Fitzsimmons because of his dedicated service to both his community and to the Tennessee Ambulance Service Association.
“When I first ran for County Mayor, one of my promises was to work with our first responders including EMS to provide the best service possible. Receiving this award from a group of individuals that I so highly regard is truly an honor. I am thankful for those that work so hard on our front lines to provide for public safety in our community” stated Mayor Foster.
Foster went on to say, “I want everyone to know that this is a team award. Director Miller and the EMS staff work hard, and we have a County Commission that has made first response a priority. They have funded the requests we have made for additional ambulances, Lucas devices, and powered stretchers and lift systems for patient and employee safety. I believe we have the best staff and the best equipped system in the Upper Cumberland.”
Cumberland County EMS Director Chris Miller stated, “With the challenges of 2021 and unprecedented EMS staffing shortages, Mayor Foster supported pay increases, a pay incentive for additional licensures, and the development of in-house EMS training courses. Mayor Foster has and continues to support EMS with local, regional, and state advocacy and is well deserving of this award.”
Cumberland County EMS introduces the addition of 3 Critical Care Paramedics
It is the pleasure of Director Chris Miller, to congratulate three Paramedics on obtaining their Critical Care Certification.
On September 14, 2021, Paramedics Chris Kemmer, Daniel Coleman, and Dragan Ramsey started attending classes at Vanderbilt Medical Center to obtain their certification. This class was coordinated by and overseen by Vanderbilt LifeFlight. For 14 weeks, these Paramedics would drive to Nashville every Tuesday and spend 8-12 hours learning about treating patients at the highest level possible in the field of EMS.
During these 12 weeks crews learned how to care for multiple IV drips, ventilator management, how to care for central lines management, PICC Lines, Arterial Lines, Ultrasound Guided IV’s, Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump management and operation, along with management of Cardiac Assist Devices. These practitioners also completed clinical rounds in the Vanderbilt ER Trauma Bay, Trauma ICU, Burn ICU, Neurological ICU, Cardiac ICU, and Pediatric Emergency Room. These individuals dedicated well over 100 hours of their and their families time to this training, along with continuing to work their regularly scheduled 24-hour shift. The final class day, Dr. Jeremy Brywczynski, and Dr. Jared McKinney came in and presented to the class giving them scenarios and wrapping up the 14-week class putting everything these practitioners had learned in one big box and making them use the knowledge to possibly treat patients in the future.
On December 8th, 2021, they went to Nashville for a final time. This day is the day that they had both prepared for and dreaded. The State of Tennessee EMS consultant arrived at 9:00am and administered the State of Tennessee Critical Care Paramedic test to the class. With the possibility of waiting for two weeks for their test results, Christmas came early, so to say. On Monday December 13th, 2021, these individuals received an email from the testing company that advised them they had passed the exam to earn the certification. These individuals had a big stressor lifted off their shoulders with this news. Throughout the day they learned that their class had a 100% pass rate on the Critical Care Exam.
We would like to thank these three individuals for taking the time to attend this certification class and obtaining this licensure. It is individuals like this that continue to make a commitment to our community that makes our agency grow. A big thanks goes out to Vanderbilt LifeFlight for hosting and accepting these individuals into the class and keeping them up to date on modern medicine.
For more information please contact Daniel Coleman, Training Officer/PIO at cumberlandemstraining@gmail.com or (931)484-1044.
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