American Medical Response

People are encouraged to focus on their cardiovascular health during February (Courtesy, pxhere.com)

By WKTV Staff

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and is a major cause of disability.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), coronary heart disease is the most common form of heart disease and often can lead to heart attacks.

February is National Heart Month, and American Medical Response (AMR) is providing tips to help you know the risks and signs of a heart attack and what to do if you witness these signs.

“Heart attacks can be sudden, but most start slowly with mild pain and discomfort,” stated John Robben, AMR Regional Director for Western Michigan. “Often, people who are having a heart attack aren’t sure what’s wrong and therefore delay seeking help.”

Warning signs of a heart attack

Robben says to look out for these signs of a heart attack:

Chest Pain – Most heart attacks cause discomfort or pain in the center of the chest that can last for several minutes. The pain may go away and then return. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.

Discomfort in Other Areas of the Upper Body – This can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.

Shortness of Breath – May occur with or without chest discomfort.

Other signs – Other symptoms might include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.

Warning Signs can be Different for Women – The most common symptom for both women and men is chest discomfort, but one can have a heart attack and not experience chest pain or pressure. Women are more likely to have symptoms such as back pain, jaw pain, shortness of breath, indigestion and nausea or vomiting.

What to do

If you or someone you are with has chest discomfort, especially with one or more of the signs of a heart attack, call 911 immediately.

Calling 911 is the fastest way to get lifesaving treatment. Emergency medical services can begin treatment when they arrive. EMTs and paramedics are also trained to revive someone whose heart has stopped.

If a person’s heart stops before the ambulance arrives, you should begin CPR and send someone to find an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

Be Prepared: It only takes a few minutes to learn compression-only CPR. Call Guardian Flight to find out where you can learn this life-saving skill.

For more information on heart attacks, visit heart.org.

As part of its ongoing focus to enhance public safety, the City of Wyoming is partnering with a private ambulance provider to improve response time for medical calls.

Starting now, American Medical Response has begun staging an ambulance at Wyoming Fire Station #3 at 2300 Gezon Parkway SW, which serves the “panhandle” section of Wyoming. Recognizing that most of the 911 calls coming from this area were medical in nature, the Wyoming Department of Public Safety made the Gezon station available to AMR as a primary posting location of an ambulance that will serve southwest Wyoming.

WKTV’s Citizen Journalism Department had a chance to interview Public Safety Director James Carmody, who was the brainchild of the move.

“I would see the ambulance and workers sitting and waiting in a snowstorm. ‘That doesn’t look like fun’ We had an empty bay down on Gezon and it would reduce response time and would be a less distance to travel. It just made sense,” he explained.

This is the first of several enhancements to the Gezon station that the City plans to make over the coming months. Within the next few weeks, Public Safety plans to reopen the fire apparatus bays and assign a ladder truck, along with seven reserve firefighters, to begin fire response service to the area. The station is currently being used for fire and police training and education programs and community events.

Wyoming Mayor Jack Poll, Department of Public Safety Director James Carmody and AMR General Manager Dick Whipple praised the move as a way to improve response times to medical emergencies in Wyoming and the surrounding areas.

“This partnership with AMR is an example of how creativity can positively impact the safety and well-being of our residents,” Carmody said. “As our public safety service model continues to evolve, we are excited to discover new ways to streamline services and provide a higher level of police and fire and emergency medical services while not increasing expenses.”

Carmody explained that, in the past, an ambulance would be “posted” in a specific geographical location based on the call demand. Based on time of day and day of week demands an ambulance will often be stationed in a nearby parking lot, ready to respond to calls in that area. Going forward, the ambulance assigned to southwest Wyoming will now stage at the Gezon Fire Station.

“When Director Carmody approached us about the possibility of this partnership, we were both excited and appreciative of the opportunity,” said Whipple. “This type of collaboration is beneficial as communities look for innovative ways to ensure responsive emergency services for their residents. It will also give the ambulance crews an opportunity to get out of their vehicle, stretch their legs for a while and keep the ambulance clear of snow ice or rain, and ready to go.”

AMR has served the West Michigan region since 1952. Its collaboration with Wyoming is the next in a series of step the City has implemented in the development of its new public safety model. Other sustainable and efficient changes Wyoming has made in public safety service delivery include:

• Developing in-house crime lab capabilities

• Outfitting all police patrol vehicles with AEDs to quickly respond to the most serious medical emergencies

• Establishing a peak-load staffing and deployment model for the Wyoming Fire Service Bureau, which allows it to have more team members in place when call volumes are higher

• Cross-training Wyoming Public Works employees as certified firefighters as the City works to build a staff of 60 paid on-call firefighters

For further information, call the Wyoming Department of Public Safety at 530-7309, or visit the City website at www.wyomingmi.gov.

You can find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CityofWyoming, and on Twitter @WyomingCityHall.