The effectiveness of a State’s EMS and Pre-Hospital & Trauma System makes the difference when it comes to saving lives (and quality of life) from injuries. Injuries are the leading cause of death for Arizonans from age 1 to 44- so you can see how important it is for states to have an effective EMS & [...]
About a year ago Ben Bobrow, MD (our EMS Medical Director) came into my office with a great idea to set up a program to train 911 dispatchers in better ways to coach callers through CPR instructions so callers can do a better job before the paramedics get there. The problem was money. So I sent him [...]
Many people don’t realize one of the critical functions the Department performs is certifying Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT’s), including Paramedics. Our Bureau of Emergency Medical Services and Trauma System currently certifies hundreds of new EMT’s and Paramedics each year, helping ensure that Arizona’s Fire Departments and ambulance companies have sufficient staff that are properly trained [...]
Arizona uses a Certificate of Necessity (CON) system to regulate ground ambulance service in Arizona- and to make sure that every place in the State has adequate emergency medical services, including the frontier parts of AZ. The CON actually describes the geographic service area, level of service (advanced life support or basic life support), hours of operation, response [...]
