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VVIITTAALL SSIIGGNNSS Spring 2012 Compassion, Excellence, Community Service

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F-M Ambulance Service is excited to announce that Sherm

Syverson was recently promoted to Executive Director of

F-M Ambulance Service. Sherm has more than 25 years of

EMS experience which began while he was still in high

school in Enderlin, North Dakota. He attended paramedic

school at F-M Ambulance in 1991 and began working there

the same year. In 1993 he began working as a flight

paramedic at MeritCare LifeFlight. After finishing a degree

in mortuary science from the University of Minnesota in

1997, he worked as a mortician for Korsmo Funeral Service

in Moorhead, MN, but his first love was always EMS. When

Ken Krupich offered him a job at F-M Ambulance Service in

2001 as an EMS Educator, Sherm returned to his “family”.

In 2004, he became the Director of Education. In May 2011,

Sherm graduated from the University of North Dakota with a

Master of Science degree in Instructional Design and

abcedefdfads Techno Technology. He lives in Moorhead with his wife of 20 years, Deb Syverson (Sanford Health Trauma Program

Manager), and three children: Ty, Drew (daughter) and Alec.

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F-M Ambulance currently has 3 EMT classes in session!

In addition to our regular Fargo EMT class, which has 42 students, we are

working with North Dakota State College of Science to provide an EMT

class on their Wahpeton campus. There are currently 11 students

enrolled in that course. College credits from NDSCS are also available for

our Fargo course.

There is also an EMT class that is meeting in Casselton/Kindred. This

course started in January and began as an EMR course, and then turned

into an EMT course. There were 11 students who successfully completed

the EMR portion of the course, and 6 who continued on and enrolled in

the EMT portion of the course.

The EMT course consists of approximately 120 hours of lecture and

hands-on instruction. F-M Ambulance Service holds 3 courses every

year. There will be courses at NDSCS every spring and fall, and an

EMR/EMT course in Casselton, ND every spring.

Nathan Stachler, Devin Torgerson, Dave Amerman and

Wayne Flom are pictured in the back of Casselton’s

ambulance. They are all enrolled in the Cass County

EMT course. Joey Paul and Dylan Goplen aren’t

pictured. Where is Wayne? He’s the “dead” guy under

the sheet making the peace sign!

For more information on any of our courses, check our

website, www.fmambulance.com

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New opportunities have recently led to some big

changes at F-M Ambulance Service.

Tim Meyer, Director of Administration, recently

accepted a position as Director of Lifeflight at

Sanford. Rick Cameron was named the new

Director of Administration. Rick has been with F-M

Ambulance Service for 20 years. He has previously

worked in the education department and also as a

field supervisor.

Once a year, FISDAP (a Minneapolis company that

makes EMS training products) hosts a Research

Summit, a workshop that attracts EMS educators

from around the country. For two days, educators

immerse themselves in a focused research project.

On February 10th & 11th, Kelly Wanzek and Sherm

Syverson attended the 2012 FISDAP Research

Summit.

The Research Summit has two primary goals:

1. To teach EMS educators how to conduct valid

educational research.

2. To facilitate research plans and apply real

FISDAP data to hypotheses, so that

participants leave with a working, nearly

finished research abstract.

Kelly’s group worked on an abstract titled When

Bigger Is Better: The Association of Class Size and

Student Cognitive Performance. They found that

the larger the class size, the better the students

performed on their cognitive exam.

Sherm’s group worked on a project that looked at

the number of pediatric contacts that paramedic

students get in clinical, field and lab experiences.

They looked at over 67,000 calls and found that

only about 10% of those were pediatric patients.

They also found that the average paramedic student

only gets 5 pediatric patient contacts during school.

Both groups hope to use their research to help our

EMT and paramedic students succeed.

F-M Ambulance offers American Heart Association

CPR courses each month.

Healthcare Provider Initial

2nd Monday, 6 PM, $50

Healthcare Provider Refresher

3rd Monday, 7 PM, $40

Heartsaver CPR/AED

2nd or 3rd Monday, 7 PM, $35

Basic First Aid

4th Monday, 7 PM, $35

Pediatric First Aid

4th Monday, 7 PM, $35

Heartsaver CPR/AED + Pediatric First Aid

3rd Saturday, 9 AM – 3 PM, $60

You can register at www.fmambulance.com or by

calling Amanda at (701) 364-1750

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National EMS week is May 20th – 26th. The theme for

2012 is “More than a job. A calling.” F-M Ambulance

will celebrate EMS week with an open house

featuring our ambulances and other resources.

Thank you to everyone involved in EMS!

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Greetings from Bob Klein, aka Farmer Bob!

Barnesville Ambulance recently finished a PHTLS

(Prehospital Trauma Life Support) course in late December.

This course reviews different trauma scenarios and new

methods that are used for the trauma patient. They had a

great turnout for the class and everyone had fun!

On December 17th

Hawley (HERT) had their annual

Christmas Party. It was fun to see everyone again. I always

enjoy the Hawley party because I usually leave with great

gifts from their White Elephant gift exchange!

In February I was in McClusky, ND (about 60 miles north of

Bismarck) for an EMT refresher. As always, I had a

wonderful time. I love going to McClusky – they always treat

me very well there. This was the sign that they put up for me

when I left – it was awesome!

Due to some changes in the education department, I’ve been very busy teaching an EMT class at NDSCS in

Wahpeton, ND. I am on the campus of NDSCS every Tuesday and Thursday night from 6 – 10 PM. I hope the

students are having as much fun in the class as I am teaching it! I do miss many of the people that I haven’t

gotten to see in the county though – don’t worry, I’ll be back late this spring!

Brenda Hilde, a long-time member of Felton Rescue, retired

in January. She has volunteered for Felton for over 19

years. Brenda was very active with Felton and will still

attend their annual pancake breakfast every spring. Thanks

for so many years of service, Brenda!

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F-M Ambulance Service recently purchased a new

device which allows our paramedics to gain vascular

access on critical patients in a faster and more

reliable way when IV access is not accessible. This

new device is called the EZ-IO.

The EZ-IO is a drill and needle that allows the

paramedic to advance the needle into a bone and

gain access into the cavity of the bone. Once the

needle is in place the paramedic can give fluids and

medications just as if they had started an IV. This is

a great tool for F-M Ambulance Service that has

already been a benefit in the care given to our

patients.

Ron Lawler used the “forceful”

technique to get people to

donate. (left)

Thanks for volunteering!

F-M Ambulance Service employees volunteered their

time on December 19th and 20th to help ring the bell

for the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign.

F-M Ambulance truly appreciates all of the work that

the Salvation Army (SA) does. The SA is at all of our

fire scenes providing rehab for the firefighters and

EMS personnel. They also provide shelter and

counseling to those who were affected by major

disasters. F-M Ambulance Service would like to say

thanks for everything that the Salvation Army does

for our community.

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Today's car seats are safe and effective if used correctly. Every car seat on the market in the United States has

passed the same rigorous crash tests required by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

If you're following manufacturer's instructions, you're giving your baby the safest ride possible with current

technology. Make sure your infant car seat is less than six years old, has never been in a crash, is reclining at

about a 45-degree angle in the car, is secured tightly in the back seat and the harness straps are adjusted correctly

for your baby.

Any car seat made after 2002 can be installed either with safety belts or the LATCH system in a vehicle made in

2002 or later. Use safety belts or LATCH for an infant, whichever you prefer, but not both. If you're worried about

the performance of LATCH, use the safety belt.

Read the instructions and follow them carefully. Even if you don't usually read the instructions for other products,

read your car seat owner's manual cover to cover. Also read the section of your vehicle owner's manual that deals

with occupant protection.

If used correctly, accordingly to manufacturer's instructions, a car seat will help save your child's life while riding in

the vehicle.

Guidelines Infant Seats

Babies should ride in rear-facing seats as long as possible according to the manufacturer's instructions. They must ride in a rear-facing car seat until they are at least 12 months old and weigh at least 20 pounds.

Toddler Seats

Children who weigh more than 20 pounds, are at least 1 year of age and can no longer ride rear-facing should ride in a forward-facing car seat with harness until they weigh 40 pounds.

Booster Seats Children who weigh between 40 and 80-100 pounds and are less than 4 feet, 9 inches tall should use a booster seat to position the lap and shoulder belt.

Seat Belts Kids who weigh more than 80-100 pounds and are more than 5 feet tall should use seat belt. If seat belt doesn't fit, refer to five-step test below.

5-Step Test 1. Is the child seated all the way back against the vehicle seat? 2. Do the child's knees bend comfortably at the end of the seat? 3. Is the lap belt low on the hip bones? 4. Is the shoulder belt centered on the shoulder and chest? 5. Can the child stay seated like this for the whole trip? If you answered "no" to any of these questions, your child will need a booster seat to ride safely. Children 12 and younger should ride in the back seat — even if your vehicle doesn't have airbags. Information for this article provided by Sanford Safe Kids Coalition

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Did you know that stroke is the third leading cause of death in America, and the # 1 cause of adult disability? Now

for the good news – 80% of strokes are preventable!

Act F.A.S.T. Face Ask the person to smile.

- Does one side of their face droop?

Arms Ask the person to raise both of their arms. - Does one arm drift downward?

Speech Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence. - Are the words slurred? Can they repeat the sentence correctly?

Time If the person shows even one of these symptoms, time is important. - Call 9-1-1 immediately.

A stroke or "brain attack" occurs when a blood clot blocks an artery (a

blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the body) or a blood

vessel (a tube through which the blood moves through the body)

breaks, interrupting blood flow to an area of the brain.

When either of these things happen, brain cells begin to die and brain

damage occurs.

When brain cells die during a stroke, functions controlled by that area

of the brain are lost. These functions include speech, movement and

memory memory. How a stroke patient is affected depends on where the stroke occurs in the brain and how much the

brain is damaged.

For example, someone who has a small stroke may experience only minor problems such as weakness of an arm

or leg. People who have larger strokes may be paralyzed on one side or lose their ability to speak. Some people

recover completely from strokes, but more than 2/3 of survivors will have some type of disability.

It is very important that people know the signs and symptoms of a stroke – the faster that you recognize these

signs and symptoms, the sooner treatment can begin.

If you think someone is having a stroke, act F.A.S.T. and do this simple test:

www.stroke.org and www.cdc.gov

The F-M Ambulance Explorers are about half-way through the year. The

Explorers are a group of high-school kids ages 15 – 18 who come to a

monthly meeting and also get to ride along on the ambulance. At the

monthly Explorer meeting, the students learn about an aspect of patient

care – for example, to learn cardiology, we hook each other up to the

cardiac monitor and look at heartbeats. For IVs, they get to practice

starting an IV on a simulation arm. After the didactic portion of the night

the students go on a tour. They have visited Sanford Lifeflight (pictured

right), West Fargo Police Department, the Moorhead Fire Department,

Red River Regional Dispatch Center and the SWAT team will visit in April.

We hope that you have enjoyed this edition of “Vital Signs”, a quarterly newsletter distributed by F-M Ambulance. An electronic edition of Vital Signs can be found on our website, www.fmambulance.com. If you have any ideas, questions, or comments about “Vital Signs”, please contact Kristi at (701) 364-1759, or kristi.engelstad@fmambulance.com.

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Imagine one of these things happening to you or your family:

Which one of these events should you call 9-1-1 for? The answer is ALL OF THEM. Whenever there is a serious

medical problem, such as chest pain, shortness of breath, slurred speech, serious bleeding or a significant fall,

9-1-1 should be called right away.

What will happen when I call 9-1-1?

- When you call 9-1-1 the call will be taken by a dispatcher who takes your information. Then the appropriate fire, police, or medical team in your area will be dispatched to the emergency.

- Local dispatchers use EMD – Emergency Medical Dispatching. EMD provides life saving instructions, whether it is giving simple airway maintenance instructions, controlling bleeding, delivering a baby or CPR instructions, to a person over the phone.

- When you call 9-1-1 the dispatcher will ask you many questions. Answering these questions does not delay response. As they ask questions, keep your answers as short and direct as possible. They are dispatching the appropriate people as you talk to them.

Why can’t I just drive myself or my loved one to the hospital?

- Paramedics and EMTs can begin treatment immediately – BEFORE arriving at the hospital. This treatment can be life-saving.

- Paramedics can communicate with the physicians at the hospital. More advanced treatment can begin as soon as you are wheeled into your room in the Emergency Department.

- Paramedics and EMTs can call in to the hospital before arriving – thus giving the nurses and doctors a “heads-up” so they can get everything needed ready for you.

- During certain emergencies, the heart could stop beating. This is called sudden cardiac arrest. Emergency personnel have the equipment to try to make the heart start beating again.

A basic rule to follow – if you are asking yourself the question, “should I call 9-1-1 or not”, you should call. Time can

be critical in a medical emergency – if you think you need medical help, call immediately!

- You are sitting at home, when all of the sudden you feel a strange pain in your chest. You have never felt anything like this before – and it’s getting worse. You think to yourself, “I should probably go to the doctor”.

- You are having dinner with your parents when suddenly your dad starts slurring his speech and drops his glass of milk. You remember earlier in the night he said that he had a terrible headache.

- Your child accidentally cuts herself, and it’s bleeding badly.

It’s bright red blood and it’s squirting. You know she will

need stitches.

- You see your neighbor putting up Christmas lights on his house when he falls off of the top step of the

ladder. He is lying on the ground, and he doesn’t seem to be moving.