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Foreign Exchange that doesn’t mean we can’t achieve some of their benefi ts. We’ll just have to work harder for them. Elements to that end include everything from the National EMS Education Standards to the Incident Command System to inter- jurisdictional agreements aimed at facilitating regional response. We’ve come a long way toward making sure responders speak the same language and can function compatibly. But that work is far from fi nished. “I think there’s a lot of good planning going on among the hospitals, but in a lot of areas their coordination and cooperation is more around planning than having an actual response framework they can rely on during an incident,” Hick says. “The same goes for EMS systems— a lot are relatively fragmented, whether that’s between public and private or multiple private agencies not having a good way to coordinate. There are an awful lot of silos out there that still need to be broken down.” “One of the things we need to do at the state level is to coordinate better among all our partners,” says Schmider. “For example, every hospital shouldn’t have to go out and buy portable disaster hospitals. We have to build a resource pool and be able to share it. That’s going to be important in our country, because there’s just not enough money for everything. And we need to improve coordination among states.” That’s the sort of regionalization that’s at the heart of our current preparedness approach, and it can work very effectively in the right environment. A lot goes into that, though, and a big part of it is groundwork beforehand. “Every state and local entity has a known framework for cooperation and resource requesting and other things that need to be carried out during a disaster,” says Hick, whose Twin Cities area has worked out a metropolitan hospital compact by which 30 area facilities work together in emergencies. “Making sure all those things work in advance of an event is critical but can be easily done. It just requires time and effort to get to the right meetings, meet the right people, and make sure the tech- nologies are in place.” Meanwhile, local leaders also need to hone their familiarity and effi ciency with the common coins of front-line response. The corpuls3 Modular Patient Monitoring System Veterans of EMS are tough to impress, but the corpuls3 modular patient monitoring system used by MDA raised a lot of eyebrows within the U.S. delegation. Here’s the lowdown on this novel device. Over the years, creative EMS crews have found ways to move patients and their monitoring equipment from where they’re found into waiting ambulances without dislodging all the wires and devices attached to them. A German company has made that job easier with its modular patient monitoring device. The corpuls3 comprehensive patient monitoring system with defibrillator and pacemaker is a three-piece unit that offers flexibility in how much of the device is used, and for what. Designed and manufactured by a German company, GS Elektromedizinische Geräte G. Stemple GmbH, it consists of these components: Patient box—Weighing less than 3 lbs., the compact patient box is the heart of the system. It is placed with the patient and remains there during throughout care, storing data on a CompactFlash drive and transmitting it wirelessly to the monitoring unit. It preconnects all cables and sensors for fast deployment and ensures uninterrupted monitoring during movement. In addition to vital signs, the box monitors 12-lead ECG, SpO2 , CO2 , noninvasive blood pressure, core and skin temperature, and arterial, venous and intracranial pressure. Stored data can be transferred via its built-in WLAN, USB interface or CompactFlash drive. With its own backlit display, the patient box can also be used separately from the monitoring unit. Monitoring unit—This small unit allows users to monitor inputs, set alarms and document their care. Its color display shows up to six waveforms, 12-lead diagnostic preview and all vital parameters in individually configurable displays. Real-time print-out of up to six leads is available. Seven soft keys give “One thing the Israelis do well is that they have the same sort of doctrine whether it’s a car crash or a big MCI,” says DeTienne. “They understand that the technique they use for two patients is no different than that they use direct access to vital functions, and a simple three-button process operates the AED features. The unit weighs less than 6 lbs. including battery. Defibrillator/pacer unit—Weighing just more than 8 lbs., the D/P unit delivers biphasic rectangular waveform defibrillation with full impedance compensation. Shocks or pacing can be delivered through paddles or the defibrillation pacing electrodes. All three devices use identical batteries. When the three modules are connected, the one being used can access energy from any of the batteries. Recharging can be done by 12-volt DC directly or by 100–250-volt AC with an adapter. GS Elektromedizinische Geräte G. Stemple GmbH reports more than 5,000 corpuls3 prehospital ground units, on air medical aircraft and in hospitals, but none as of yet in the United States. The company is seeking FDA clearance to market the device in America. Ed Mund began his fire and EMS career in 1989. He currently serves with Riverside Fire Authority, a fire-based ALS agency in Centralia, WA. for 200 patients, and I get the sense, with the integration of the services, they can expand a little more easily than we’re able to. And that’s diffi cult without some more education and drilling here. From a rural perspective espe- EMS WORLD JULY 2011 17 units are in service worldwide, in