BLS:
Basic Life
Support is emergency medical service at the Basic EMT level. Basic
EMT’s have 120+
hours of
training and can provide bandaging, splinting and basic airway management
skills.
EMT-Basics
can operate an Automatic Defibrillator but cannot do cardiac monitoring,
pacing or
administer
any medications
.
ALS:
Advanced
Life Support is emergency medical service at the Intermediate or Paramedic
level.
EMT-Intermediates
have 500+ hours of training, can administer intravenous fluids and provide
advanced
airway maneuvers. Paramedics have an average of 2000+ hours of training,
perform all the
skills of
Basics and Intermediates, and can provide ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support)
and may
administer
a large range of lifesaving medications. Paramedics operate manual
defibrillators that can
treat a large
number of heart arrhythmias. Princeton currently operates at the
ALS level when
available.
Many conditions
require Paramedics. Some of these are: Problems with
the heart. Problems with
medications,
overdoses. Any allergic reaction that impacts breathing. Any
call where a patient has
difficulty
breathing. All asthma calls, etc. In these cases the EMT basic
can only place the patient in
the ambulance,
administer oxygen and drive to the nearest Paramedic intercept or hospital.
Princeton
has historically required ALS on approximately 60% of its calls annually.
Many medical
conditions
require the administration of medications and cardiac monitoring which
only a Paramedic
can do.
Trauma makes up a relatively small percentage of calls. In most cases
of Trauma, the
administration
of medication is not indicated but often patients require cardiac monitoring,
intravenous
fluids, and high flow O2.
Princeton
Fire Department currently provides the highest level of emergency medical
service, ALS.
This service
is currently self funding by ambulance receipts.
A portion
of the ambulance reciepts is set aside to cover the cost of replacing the
ambulances.