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Rescue Task Force Vests Provide Real Protection to EMS T he Communit y Emergency Corps (CEC) in Ballston Spa, NY, has deployed 16 Rescue Task Force Vests in its ambulances and EMS staff vehicles. Made by North American Rescue, these vests combine personal protective ballis- tic protection with essential wear- able medical equipment, including a front-mounted NAR-4 medical sup- ply chest pouch and additional CAT tourniquets with holders mounted externally on the vest. The CEC is a mixed career employee/volunteer department equipped with three ambulances amd two staff vehicles. The CEC has adopted these vests in response to increasingly vio- lent incidents in some parts of its 70-square-mile jurisdiction. "EMS is a part of emergency services, and our people face the same risks as our police and fire, risks that are an inherent part of the job," says CEC Assistant Chief Tim Thomas. "The days of a pair of slacks and a polo shirt serving as adequate EMS pro- tective clothing are gone." The Rescue Task Force Vest (RTFV) provides its wearers with one of the largest NIJ 0101.06 Level IIIA front/back panel soft armor protec- tion systems available, which is also available with side armor protec- tion. The vest's ballistic soft armor is comprised of withstanding multi-hit capable system of ballistic materials. Each panel can capture projectiles and disperse their energy over the panel's entire surface, reducing the chances of injury. Thomas says his department couldn't afford to buy individual vests, which is why the RTFV's abil- ity to fit waistlines up to 60 inches was a real plus, especially because the vests are deployed such that each active EMS officer has access to them while on-duty. He says the RTFVs are lightweight to wear and come with adjustable MOLLE webbing that "allows the wearers to configure them however they want." Besides providing enhanced physi- cal protection to CEC's EMS staff, the RTFVs have boosted staff morale. "Now that we have this equipment, our staff feel that management truly cares about their safety, and have done something substantial to increase it," says Thomas. "Wearing these vests has also made our EMS staff more aware of their own safety, and better-suited to handle risks." Visit www.narescue.com. Circle 41 on the Product Information Card Making More of Your Data with a Single Solution from ImageTrend F or Mark Roberts, data manager for the State of Cali- fornia and EMS technical consultant with Inland Counties Emergency Medical Agency (ICEMA), the decision to use ImageTrend solutions came down to one important factor: the validity of the data being collected. With a single solution model, ImageTrend shares data across disciplines to create a patient care record rather than an incident-centric record. A complete system incor- porates hospitals, related fire incidents, credentials of the care providers, revenue recovery, preparedness and advanced reporting. This connected solution is what makes efforts like community paramedicine/mobile integrated healthcare possible. For Roberts, it was important to have a single data source rather than being part of a larger data repository. "When we were acting as a repository, we were spending more time figuring out if the data we were reporting was correct or not; by making the choice to go to a single solution we've eliminated all of that. We don't have to question its validity, and we don't have to track down and verify something. It's made a huge difference because we're able to move forward faster." Since switch- ing to ImageT- r e n d ' s s i n g l e solution system, Roberts says the savings in time and dollars has been significant. "Instead of every department going out and spending $75,000–$80,000, we were able to get one system that answered all the ques- tions we needed. When we're running reports everything is the same, all the same terminology, etc. As a result we're able to do a lot more reporting and integration, and if we need support we only have one vendor to contact." Visit www.ImageTrend.com/One. Circle 42 on the Product Information Card P R O D U C T A P P L I C A T I O N S 52 MARCH 2015 | EMSWORLD.com