Fatal opioid overdoses have declined in parts of Eastern Mass
The Boston Globe highlights FirstWatch customer Trinity EMS for their efforts in reducing opioid overdoses in Lowell, MA. Read the Article Here.
EMS Agenda 2050: Building a Team to Help Shape our Future
The EMS Agenda 2050 project, led by our own Improvement Guide, Mike Taigman, is underway. Mike shares in this article plans for how the group will be creating the Agenda, and how they want to involve you! Read the Article Here.
New EMS1 Column Post by Mike Taigman – Quality Improvement in Action: Cutting opioid overdose deaths in half
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...
New EMS1 Column Post by Mike Taigman – EMS QI: Focus on what matters to patients
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...
New EMS1 Column Post by Mike Taigman – Letting go: Organizational phantom limbs
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...
New EMS1 Column Post by Mike Taigman – How to deal with angry EMS employees
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...
Crisis Porportions: Communications Center Strategies to Rally Against Opioid Epidemic
FirstWatch is proud to help agencies detect opioid overdoses and share that information with local stakeholders that can intervene in real-time. Learn more in this article featured in the March/April Issue of The Journal. Read the Article.
New EMS1 Column Post by Mike Taigman – How EMS should benchmark for improvement
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...
Fond du Lac Fire Rescue using FirstWatch to Improve Response Times
Fond du Lac Fire Rescue, WI is using FirstWatch to see how quickly personnel and equipment are getting to calls. With goals being set and tracked, they’re expected to be met. Since launching the program, the Fond du Lac Fire Department has been able to meet between 90 and 100% of its goals. Watch the TV News Clip.
New EMS1 Column Post by Mike Taigman – Improve EMS performance like a champion
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...
New EMS1 Column Post by Mike Taigman – EMS Chiefs: Listen for theories
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...
Outbreak of Acute Flaccid Myelitis
The CDC is investigating a surge in cases of Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM). AFM is a syndrome of weakened muscles that may sometimes lead to paralysis, including limb and respiratory muscles. The majority of cases are in children and adolescents. What EMS should know: If a patient, particularly a child/adolescent presents with weak or paralyzed limbs, they should be transported to the hospital for further evaluation. Careful attention should be paid to washing hands, decontaminating objects & surfaces. Wearing appropriate PPE will also...
EMS Data Can Help Stop the Opioid Epidemic
Former FirstWatch Medical Director Dr. Alex Garza and Boston EMS, Fire and Police Medical Director Dr. Sophia Dyer, joined forces in this month's issue of JEMS to share the opportunity EMS has to help in the efforts to slow down the Opioid epidemic and perhaps prevent overdoses before they occur. Read the Article.
Webinar Recording: Introduction to AIMHI and The New Role of High Performance / High Value EMS – Part 1
We're so excited to partner with The Academy of International Mobile Healthcare Integration (AIMHI) to bring you their first webinar introducing their rebranding (formerly the Coalition of Advanced Emergency Medical Systems (CAEMS)), that highlights high performance EMS systems’ focus to highlight the rapidly transforming role of EMS agencies across the United States and Canada. This first of its kind webinar will introduce the participants to AIMHI and its mission, and explain the concepts of High Performance EMS (HPEMS). In this...
New EMS1 Column by Mike Taigman: Better EMS Performance
We're so excited to announce 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. We will draw 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...
Leveraging Civic Data to Improve Public Health and Emergency Managemet
FirstWatch is featured in a great article by Data-Smart City Solutions, an initiative by the Ash Center at Harvard Kennedy School, about the need for local authorities and decision makers to have real-time alert systems, rapid response surveillance, and mobile data collection and geolocation to improve the disease surveillance necessary to curb the spread of major viruses. Read the Article.
Zika Update as of Aug 23, 2016
1. A new area with local transmission by mosquitos has been identified in Miami, Florida for a portion of South Beach. 2. A non-travel case of Zika has been identified in Pinellas County, Florida and was announced Tuesday. 3. A scientific research study was released using mice models that indicates that the Zika virus is able to cause brain damage in mice adult neural stem cells. For a more complete Zika update, Click Here.
Should EMS Data be Monitored for Zika Infection?
FirstWatch likes to provide surveillance and early warning for many different threats to our clients – that was, in fact, the initial reason for starting the company. So, it makes sense that the question would be asked by us, and perhaps by you, if Zika should be monitored through the data we capture for you. We have seriously contemplated it and will outline our rationale to not recommend doing so at this time. However, we would very much like to...
Zika in all but 4 U.S. States
There are currently three scenarios in which the Zika virus is spreading: areas where local mosquito transmission is occurring, areas that have the potential for having local mosquito transmission (have Aedes mosquitos & have or have had Zika infected people), and those areas where Zika transmission is very unlikely although travel-related infections may occur. The only states that do not have travel-related cases are Alaska, Idaho, Wyoming, and South Dakota. First responders should continue to avoid mosquito breeding around the worksite,...
How One EMS Agency in Nevada is Collecting, Analyzing Data
Clark County Fire Department leaders wanted to go beyond measuring response times and look more closely at patient care performance. But using their current software, reviewing performance was labor intensive and time consuming – they could look back at individual charts, or create spreadsheets about a particular indicator, but they couldn’t look at multiple aspects of all calls systematically. Clark County decided to use FirstPass, the tool that continually mines data in CADs and ePCRs, alerting managers to deviations in...
