CCPT Hosts Patient Safety Discussions: Lessons Learned from the Life-Guard Aviation

Carilion Clinic Patient Transportation Services was pleased to welcome our peers from both the Roanoke Memorial OR team as well the Quality & Patient Safety Department yesterday. The first of a lecture series regarding patient safety was presented by Paul Davenport, Sr. Director. The lecture entitled, "Why Hospitals Should Fly: Patient Safety Lessons from Aviation Emergency Medical Services" allowed our team to share valuable safety lessons with our colleagues. The presentation, based largely on the book "Why Hospitals Should Fly" by John J. Nance, JD, allowed the audience to better understand the principles of Crew Resource Management (CRM) and how we, at CCPT, make these principles a priority in our everyday practices, in order to promote both patient and crew safety. Three of our Air Methods pilots were also there to share their perspective from the aviators' side of our operations. It was a great opportunity for all to share ideas from both the inpatient and prehospital environments. We look forward to hosting the same presentation with the Roanoke Memorial CCU team later this week.

Updated 12/10/10: CCU Team Visits

4th Annual Camp Carilion

CCPT was proud to host the Camp Carilion students today here at our Roanoke office. Every summer, Carilion Clinic invites local middle school students to attend our hospital-based camp. The students are given the opportunity to explore different health care careers by visiting a variety of areas in the hospital throughout the week. Today was Day 2 of the Camp; the group spent the first half of the day touring our Roanoke ambulance base as well as the Life-Guard 10 hangar. After meeting some of our crews, the students then attended an on-site CPR training with our own Training Coordinator, Johnny Nicely and Lieutenant Mark Altman.
We hope the kids enjoyed their day as much as we enjoyed having them. Hope to see some of them back in a few years as job applicants!

Photo Gallery:

Heart Attack Patient Meets Rescuers Who Saved Her Life

On May 16th, Norma Anderson and her family learned first hand, the amazing results that can happen when an integrated public safety system and health care system are put into action.
On that day, Norma went into cardiac arrest while traveling with friends and family on Route 220 in Franklin County, VA. Her care began with Sergeant Dan Hale (Franklin Co. Sheriff's Dept.), and continued with Franklin County Public Safety, Carilion Franklin Memorial, Carilion Clinic Life-Guard, and ultimately Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. The entire emergency response was an excellent example of Carilion Clinic's Heart Alert program at work. Thanks to ongoing training and education between pre-hospital providers and Carilion Clinic, patients like Norma Anderson are given the best possible chance to survive a critical cardiac event.
This past Sunday, Ms. Anderson got to meet her rescuers and caregivers at our offices here at CCPT, and thank them all in person.
It was an amazingly emotional reunion; a rare opportunity for EMS providers to reconnect with one of their patients and share in the good outcome that they made possible. Thanks to all who took the time to come out and participate! See further details on the reunion on WSET's web site.

Life-Guard 10 Visits Moneta Rescue for LZ Training

We enjoyed beautiful weather, great company, and a bonus ice cream social at Moneta Rescue Squad last night. Thanks to all who came out to visit with the Life-Guard 10 crew and learn more about landing zone safety. We truly enjoyed seeing everyone and getting to meet some of your families. Thanks for hosting the event!

CCPT Proudly Announces Renewed CAMTS Accreditation

The Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems is dedicated to improving the quality of patient care and safety of the transport environment for services providing rotorwing, fixed wing and ground transport systems.
CCPT's commitment to going through this voluntary process is one example of our focus on providing service excellence to our surrounding communities.
We are very pleased to announce that we successfully completed our recent site survey and have been granted renewed accreditation for the next three years.

Release from CAMTS:

The Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems is proud to announce that Carilion Clinic Patient Transportation, a rotorwing, ground critical care, ground ALS, and ground BLS service, was again awarded accreditation on April 10, 2010. Carilion Clinic Patient Transportation provides highly skilled flight nurse/paramedic/EMT teams to care for adult, pediatric and neonatal patients. Carilion Clinic Life-Guard operates and maintains the two Eurocopter helicopters. The program operates their own ground service.”

Congratulations to all of the dedicated members who make up our team; without them, achievements such as this would not be possible!

CCPT Leadership Team Attends MTLI

Carilion Clinic Patient Transportation's leadership team proudly recognizes Dr. Carol Gilbert, OMD-CCPT, on her recent graduation from the Medical Transport Leadership Institute (MTLI) as a Certified Medical Transport Executive (CMTE).
MTLI is an extensive two year program that focuses on leadership and overall operational development of leaders in the Medical Transport Community. A very small number of leaders in the country have this certification.
In addition to Dr. Gilbert completing the CMTE, the following leadership staff attended other parts of the MTLI school:

Paul Davenport, Sr. Director-MTLI Regent
Charles Coffelt, Director-attended Graduate School
Susan Smith, Director-attended Graduate School
Jeff McKinney, Manager-attended Graduate School
Craig McCown, Manager-attended Graduate School
Kim Rorrer, Manager-attended Graduate School
Melanie Morris, Manager-Completed first year

Congratulations to all the members of the leadership team on their continued education!

CCPT Welcomes Visitors from Thailand

CCPT was pleased to welcome 2 members of the Rotary International Group Study Exchange (GSE) Program today at our Roanoke base. The Rotary Foundation's GSE Program is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for professionals between the ages of 25 and 40 who are in the early stages of their careers. For 4 to 6 weeks, team members experience the host country's culture and institutions, observe how their vocations are practiced abroad, and exchange ideas.
Our visitors today were both from Thailand: Orathai Tiangtam, RN and Rujapa Jiamtanopachai, Nurse Practioner, were given a full tour of our CCPT/Life-Guard operations.
We wish them well during their visits and hope that Carilion Clinic added a high point to their experience!

(pictured above, L to R: Doug Wright, RN, Rujapa Jiamtanopachai, NP, Chase Bower, NREMT-P, Orathai Tiangtam, RN, and Kevin Peters, Safety Officer)

Life-Guard Medical Director Discusses Experience in Haiti

Click here to read more about our own Dr. Carol Gilbert's experience in Haiti

Carilion Clinic Life Guard Announces 6th Annual StarPoints Symposium

SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, April 10th
Location: Vinton War Memorial (Vinton, VA)

Carilion Clinic Life-Guard and Carilion Clinic Corporate University are pleased to announce StarPoints Symposium 2010. This conference is designed for EMS providers, critical care nurses, physicians, or other health care providers who desire to enhance their knowledge of current trends of pre-hospital and emergency care.

Conference registration will be opening soon, with a deadline of April 1st. Register early to ensure your spot!

Conference highlights this year include:
-Air Care track
-Intro. to Tactical Medicine Track
-Intro. to Underwater Rescue Track
-Leadership Track

Also, back by popular demand, we will have Bob Page presenting at this year's conference.

Stay tuned for further conference and registration details.

Carilion Clinic Patient Transportation OMD helps in Haiti

Dr. Carol Gilbert, Trauma Surgeon and Operational Medical Director for CCPT has been deployed to Haiti. She was sent as a member of VA-1 DMAT to assist with medical treatment and relief. Dr. Gilbert is a seasoned trauma surgeon and has extensive experience in EMS/Rescue. Her lifesaving medical skills and experience will be a great asset to the relief efforts.

CCPT Congratulates the 2009 Employees of the Year

Carilion Clinic Patient Transportation Services has announced the 2009 Divisional Employees of the Year. Each year, CCPT staff are selected from their accomplishments throughout the year.

Bedford Division-Tamara Dennis

Blacksburg Division- Amelia Stevens

Communication Center- Erika Alford

Critical Care Life-Guard- Charlotte Clark

Franklin Division-Jake Davis

Giles Division-Mike Evans

Lexington Division-George Jones
Pre-bill Division-Anessa Sink

Radford Division- Kelly Stoots

Roanoke Division-Alicia Caldwell

Westlake Division-Carole Vanella

Congratulations to all of the 2009 Employees of the Year!

Life-Guard Crew Visits Franklin County EMT Class

The Life-Guard 10 crew recently made a visit to the Carilion Franklin Memorial helipad to do LZ safety training with a group of EMT students. Each semester we visit the upcoming EMTs and provide a classroom lecture on helicopter operations and safety, followed by an actual visit with the aircraft. The students always enjoy seeing the helicopter up close and learning more about our flight crews' roles. We like to think that we are introducing our team to future Life-Guard medics and nurses! Thanks to all who helped to make this class a success.

Carilion Clinic Life-Guard Team Competes in 2009 METI Cup Competition

The annual Air Medical Transport Conference always offers lots of wonderful educational opportunities for the industry. Carilion Clinic Life-Guard is very proud to have been represented in the well-known METI Cup Critical Care Skills Competition this year is San Jose, CA. Flight nurse Dianna Coffey and flight medic Chase Bower rose to the challenge for this year's event.
Twenty teams went head-to-head at showing off their real time, real situation skills on METI’s state-of-the-art patient simulators. We are very proud of Dianna and Chase making such a strong showing in this exciting event. See pics below of our team in action. Way to represent, gang!

Life-Guard Rolls Out New Carilion Clinic Stroke Alert Education for EMS Providers

The Life-Guard crew is excited to be part of one of Carilion Clinic's latest initiatives in providing the best emergency care possible for our communities: The Carilion Clinic Stroke Alert Program. This program allows for rapid recognition and response to those suffering acute stroke symptoms. Just as we have seen with the Heart Alert Program, this program starts with our EMS partners in the field. Early recognition of the stroke victim is the key not only to survival, but also optimal recovery. Thanks to Carilion Clinic's new program, EMS providers can activate a Stroke Alert from the field, allowing cutting edge teams and technologies to be prepared for the patient before they even arrive at the doors of Carilion Roanoke Memorial's emergency department.
A huge thanks to our Botetourt County EMS partners who hosted one of our Stroke Alert educational programs this week. Almost 30 providers showed up to learn the latest in emergency stroke care, as well as learn more about the new Carilion Clinic Stroke Alert Program.
If you would like to host a similar training for your EMS agency, please contact our Business Development Office at (540) 981-8303 or e-mail at mmorris@carilion.com.

Camp Carilion Visits CCPT

Carilion Clinic hosted the 3rd Annual Camp Carilion this week in the Roanoke Valley. This is an exciting opportunity for middle school students to explore health care career opportunities by visiting different departments throughout our hospital. This year's theme was cardiac care, both in the hospital as well as in the EMS system. The students were able to follow the treatment course of a heart-attack vicitim from the the time of a 911 call all the way through to the cardiac rehab. course. The students also learned the vaulable signs and symptoms of a heart attack and how to assist if needed.
On Day 2 of the camp, the students joined us here at CCPT to become officially certified CPR providers. This turned out to be a favorite of the week for the group (including our staff!)

Photo Gallery

Two Carilion Clinic Employees Receive Regional EMS Awards

Recently, the WVEMS Office held their Regional EMS Appreciation Picnic and Awards Ceremony, during which 11 EMS providers, physicians, and organizations were recognized for their outstanding contributions to the local EMS communities.
Our very own Romney Smith received the award for Outstanding EMS Pre-Hospital Educator. Romney has been an active EMS educator locally, regionally and across the state for nearly thirty years. His passion for EMS education is evident in any class with which he is associated. Romney is the First Lieutenant-Training Officer of Newport Volunteer Rescue Squad and employed as a flight medic by Carilion Clinic Life-Guard 11.
The Regional Award for Outstanding Contribution to EMS was given to Carilion Clinic's Paul T. Frantz, MD. This award is for an outstanding contribution to EMS by an individual, corporation, business, news media or program in providing financial, material, education or other tangible or non-tangible assistance to support and benefit the local, regional or state EMS system. Dr. Frantz, nominated by three separate individuals, is the driving force behind Carilion Clinic’s Heart Alert program. Frantz has dedicated his life to cardiothoracic medicine and he realizes the importance of the inclusion of EMS as a necessary step to saving more lives. Dr. Frantz’s tireless dedication to his patients and the Heart Alert program made him the obvious choice for this award. Local EMS leaders presented Dr. Frantz with his award at this week's Carilion Clinic Heart Alert meeting.
Pictured from left to right: Charles Coffelt-CCPT, Jason Ferguson-Botetourt County Emergency Services, Dr. Paul Frantz-Carilion Clinic, Dave Bishop-Roanoke City Fire & EMS, Billy Duff-Roanoke County Fire & EMS.
The staff of CCPT would like to offer a huge congratulations to both Romney and Dr. Frantz for their achievements. Their dedication is another example of Carilion Clinic's commitment to supporting excellence in our EMS communities.

Carilion Clinic's New Life-Guard 10 Participates in Shattered Dreams Program

Earlier this week, the Life-Guard 10 crew took our new EC-145 to Riner, VA for Auburn High School's annual "Shattered Dreams" program. This is a mock DUI crash presented by the New River Valley Driving School, along with Christiansburg and Riner Rescue Squad (featuring the Junior Squad), Riner Fire Department, YOVASO, Montgomery County Sheriff's Department, VA State Police, Carilion Clinic Life-Guard, Harmon's Service Station, Horne's Funeral Service, and PSK 107.
The goal of the event is to teach high-school teens the dangers of drinking and driving. The Life-Guard crew is proud to be part of this event every year, and would like to thank the volunteers from Christiansburg and Riner Fire & Rescue for making this such a successful event!

CCPT Safety Officer Chosen to Attend International Conference May 13th-15th

We are pleased to announce that our own Safety Officer, Kevin Peters, has been given the distinct honor of being chosen to attend the 2009 RETTmobil (Mobile Rescue) Conference in Fulda, Germany. Kevin is one of 24 people chosen to represent the EMS Safety Foundation at the conference this year. This select group was chosen at an international level, and attendees will be travelling from such countries as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, to name a few.
Kevin's ongoing work with Dr. Nadine Levick, Founder and Research Director, EMS Safety Foundation, allowed him the opportunity for this unique chance to represent Carilion Clinic Patient Transportation at a national level.

About the Conference
RETTmobil is the event for information and further training of emergency service personnel as well as EMS leaders and field rescuers. More than 300 exhibitors, and 20,000 visitors from throughout Europe and internationally were at the 2008 RETTmobil event. There exist many possibilities to experience modern technology, innovative products, practical services, 70,000 square meter of exhibition sites, as well as test tracks in an off-road course on an additional 50,000 square meters of large open areas.
RETTmobil today is a platform for innovations internationally, to the most diverse technical topics from emergency service, medicine, organization, and logistics. Participants will meet colleagues, deepen existing knowledge, test products and become acquainted with the newest innovations.

CCPT, a CAMTS accredited organization, is very proud of our commitment to safety. We are very excited about Kevin's selection for this opportunity, as well as the information he will bring back to our Company, regarding the latest in safety innovations for our industry.
Please join us in congratulating Kevin on this accomplishment as well as wishing him safe travels next week to Germany!

Farewell Celebration for the Bell 412

Carilion Clinic Patient Transportation (CCPT) invites the community to join them as they throw a “retirement party” for the Bell 412.

Friday, April 17th from 5pm-7pm.
o See the Bell 412 up close.
o Take photos with the Bell 412.
o Meet the CCPT flight crews.
o Enjoy food, fun and music provided by Q-99.
o Children are especially welcome.

We are also accepting guests on Saturday, April 18th from 9am-11am.

Since the Carilion LifeGuard medevac program launched in 1981, no aircraft has served the region longer than the Bell 412 helicopter flown as “Life-Guard 10”. From 1990 to today, the 412 has safely flown almost 10,000 patients to their destination and faithfully served her pilots and crew.

For almost 20 years, people in Western Virginia have associated the unique shape of the 412, the low rumble of the twin Pratt & Whitney engines and the distinctive “whomp-whomp-whomp” of the four rotor blades, with a commitment to saving lives.

After a careful review, CCPT determined that patients' future needs would be best served by purchasing a new helicopter to replace the Bell (which is leased from Air Methods).

While CCPT staff will miss the Bell 412, they understand that the new helicopter -- a Eurocopter 145 -- will ultimately be an improvement for patients, with state-of-the-art safety and medical technology on board. The new Life-Guard 10 will also be a bit smaller and faster leading to slightly faster response time and improved safety when landing at the scene of an accident or heart attack.

The Bell 412 will not be scrapped or mothballed! The 412 will be completely refurbished by Air Methods and continue to serve as a civilian transport helicopter.

Read more about Life-Guard at http://www.carilionclinic.org/Carilion/Carilion+Clinic+Life-Guard.

CCPT EMS and Bike Teams Join Breast Cancer Awareness Event

We were proud to support Carilion Clinic's Positively Pink Parade last weekend at Valley View Mall. This is an annual event that raises awareness for breast cancer and is a wonderful venue for both survivors and their loved ones to come together for a great cause. The rainy day didn't stop the enthusiastic crowd from proceeding as planned. CCPT sent several of our finest to provide medical standby coverage as well as cheer everyone on!
Thanks to all who came out and participated. We especially like the show of pink ribbon support-looks like a great addition to our uniform!