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January 19, 2018Read more...

Influenza Update Week Ending 1-13-2018

Week #56 (ending 1-13-18) The CDC reported that influenza (Flu) activity, including diagnosed flu and Influenza-Like-Illness (ILI), increased again. All states reported widespread flu activity except for Hawaii and ILI also increased. This indicated that this flu season is a severe one – at, or just below -- the data seen in the most recent severe flu season of 2014-15. Deaths associated with flu have reached system-specific epidemic thresholds. The dominating flu subtype continued to be A H3N2, typically a more...

January 12, 2018Read more...

Influenza Update Week Ending 1-6-2018

Week #55 (ending 1-6-18) The CDC reported that influenza (Flu) activity, including diagnosed flu as well as Influenza-Like-Illness (ILI), increased again and all states reported widespread activity except for Hawaii. The flu and ILI data reported so far matches up with data points from the 2014-15 season which had high severity. The CDC also suggested that it is likely that the peak of the flu season has or soon will occur but flu will probably continue for several more weeks. The dominating...

January 5, 2018Read more...

Influenza Update Week Ending 12-30-2017

Week #52 (ending 12-30-17) the CDC reported that influenza (Flu) activity, including diagnosed flu as well as Influenza-Like-Illness (ILI) sharply increased for this week. The dominating flu subtype continued to be A H3N2. This continued the trend of an early flu season with a typically more severe subtype of flu dominating and the possibility of increased complications. Although the highest risk for complications & hospitalizations is usually in those 65 years or older and in younger children, there have been...

January 2, 2018Read more...

A Model for Better Community Healthcare

​REMSA,​ ​the​ ​Regional​ ​Emergency​ ​Medical​ ​Services​ ​Authority​ ​based​ ​in​ ​northern Nevada,​ ​has​ ​released​ ​a​ ​new​ ​comprehensive​ ​White​ ​Paper​ ​that​ ​provides​ ​detailed​ ​information​ ​on its​ ​highly​ ​successful​ ​Community​ ​Health​ ​Programs.​ ​These​ ​nationally-acclaimed​ ​programs​ ​were launched​ ​in​ ​2012​ ​after​ ​REMSA​ ​received​ ​funding​ ​​ ​through​ ​a​ ​$9.1​ ​million​ ​Health​ ​Care​ ​Innovation Award​ ​grant​ ​from​ ​the​ ​Center​ ​for​ ​Medicare​ ​&​ ​Medicaid​ ​Innovation,​ ​part​ ​of​ ​the​ ​U.S.​ ​Department​ ​of Health​ ​and​ ​Human​ ​Services. The​ ​White​ ​Paper​ ​describes​ ​the​ ​planning,​ ​implementation​ ​and​ ​results​ ​of​ ​REMSA’s​ ​approach created​...

January 1, 2018Read more...

In the News: HAN Influenza Advisory

CDC has released a Health Advisory from their Health Alert Network:https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/han00409.asp Due to the rapid rise in cases of flu and recent past history when the predominantly circulating flu strain was H3N2, the CDC wants to remind health care providers (HCP) to keep influenza in mind as a diagnosis when presented with signs and symptoms that could be flu https://www.cdc.gov/flu/symptoms/index.html Download the Full Update

December 30, 2017Read more...

Influenza Update Week Ending 12-30-2017

Week #52 (ending 12-30-17) the CDC reported that influenza (Flu) activity, including diagnosed flu as well as Influenza-Like-Illness (ILI) sharply increased for this week. The dominating flu subtype continued to be A H3N2. This continued the trend of an early flu season with a typically more severe subtype of flu dominating and the possibility of increased complications. Although the highest risk for complications & hospitalizations is usually in those 65 years or older and in younger children, there...

December 23, 2017Read more...

Influenza Update Week Ending 12-23-2017

Earlier in this flu season, the CDC posted an expectation that this flu season (2017-18) would likely start early and be more severe (as it was last year) than previous few flu seasons. This prediction was made based on the severe flu season that Australia was experiencing and since Influenza A H3N2 was the predominant strain. Flu seasons in the Southern Hemisphere are often good predictors of North American flu seasons since there winter occurs during our summer. This...

November 29, 2017Read more...

Pinnacle 2017 Session: How EMS Can Fight the Opioid Overdose Crisis

What a great session at the Pinnacle 2017 conference. For those of you that were unable to attend, you can find the information regarding the conference below, as well as resources shared during the presentation. Presenters: Todd Stout, FirstWatch, Rob Lawrence, Richmond Ambulance Authority, Jon Kelly, Trinity EMS, Jamie Pianka, ProEMS and Dave Lewis, St. Charles County Ambulance District Session Description: Opioid overdoses are now clearly one of the biggest public health threats facing this country, leading to more than 33,000 deaths in 2015...

November 7, 2017Read more...
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New EMS1 Column Post by Mike Taigman – Visionaries define top 7 current health care challenges

Read the latest post in the new Paramedic Chief column via EMS1, "Better EMS Performance" led by our own Improvement Guide, Mike Taigman. In this new column, Mike and our FirstWatch team along with our customers and colleagues will share actionable strategies, concepts and ideas to make real improvements. This column draws from Learning Organizations, Systems Thinking, Six Sigma, Lean Thinking, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and others you will not need to have a black belt to put these ideas...

October 17, 2017Read more...
Group of people around a table

New EMS1 Column Post by Mike Taigman – Finding the Joy: Beyond job satisfaction in EMS

Read the latest post in the new Paramedic Chief column via EMS1, "Better EMS Performance" led by our own Improvement Guide, Mike Taigman. In this new column, Mike and our FirstWatch team along with our customers and colleagues will share actionable strategies, concepts and ideas to make real improvements. This column draws from Learning Organizations, Systems Thinking, Six Sigma, Lean Thinking, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and others you will not need to have a black belt to put these ideas...

September 12, 2017Read more...

New EMS1 Column Post by Mike Taigman – The I have a theory approach to change management in EMS

Read the latest post in the new Paramedic Chief column via EMS1, "Better EMS Performance" led by our own Improvement Guide, Mike Taigman. In this new column, Mike and our FirstWatch team along with our customers and colleagues will share actionable strategies, concepts and ideas to make real improvements. This column draws from Learning Organizations, Systems Thinking, Six Sigma, Lean Thinking, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and others you will not need to have a black belt to put these ideas...