2023 ANNUAL REPORT-FINAL

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EMERGENCY SERVICES

Emergency Medical Services Office

The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Section of Emergency Services is designated as the EMS operational program for Frederick County by the Maryland Institute of Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) and the Maryland EMS Board. This designation establishes the authority for EMS operations and quality improvement programs within Emergency Services for Frederick County. As an EMS operational program, the EMS Section is responsible for the administration, supervision, and medical direction of all pre-hospital EMS providers and EMS operational units in the county. The local program Medical Director is an integral part of the operation of emergency medical services and serves as an advisor on all matters related to the provision of emergency pre-hospital care, and provider remediation and advanced practice skills. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is managed by a Battalion Chief with the support of a Captain. Two EMS Lieutenants are assigned to each of our three 24-hour rotating shifts to serve as EMS supervisors. They are responsible for oversight of EMS operations on emergency incidents and the EMS responsibilities of the paramedics working on their shift. The EMS supervisors also field inquiries from patients, relatives, nursing homes, hospital staff, or physicians related to patient care or EMS operations, they serve as the 24-hour contact for our EMS providers when operational questions or unique situations occur. They provide guidance and assistance to all EMS providers when requested or necessary. The EMS supervisors serve as part of the command staff within the Incident Management System (IMS) at emergency incidents of all types county-wide. In 2022, the EMS section formed a committee to review call data and unit response times to develop a 5-year plan to expand Advanced Life Support (ALS) delivery throughout Frederick County. The first and second phase of the new EMS deployment plan were implemented in September 2023. These changes included the addition of Medic 4 with peak time staffing and two new paramedic engines at Station 2 and Station 31. These new additions have dropped ALS response times from 8 minutes and 10 seconds to 7 minutes and 46 seconds in just a few short months. Plans are to implement Phase 3, full time staffing of Medic 4 in 2024 and we hope to begin implementing Phase 4, two (2) additional paramedic engines, as additional paramedics graduate the paramedic training program.

Of the 32,785 EMS incidents responded to in 2023, there were a total of 21,204 patients transported to a hospital. From the time of incident dispatch, we averaged the following:

• 6 minutes to the arrival of an EMS unit • 35 minutes until the arrival of the patient at the hospital • 55 minutes until the EMS unit is back in-service and ready for the next call