Photo By Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael Molina | Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune's Trauma Center staff train during a simulated...... read more read more
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A secure partnership built on trust and medical proficiency is in the national spotlight. Onslow County Emergency Medical Services is the 2020 recipient of the Dick Ferneau Career EMS Service of the Year awarded by the National Association of EMTs. The honor is one their director says is owed greatly in part to the OCEMS partnership with Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune’s Trauma Center.
“The partnership with Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune was instrumental,” said David Grovdahl, EMS Division Head for OCEMS. “This system is unique and, hopefully, will lead to other partnerships in military communities.”
This is the first time OCEMS has been awarded this top recognition for an EMS service; the partnership with the NMCCL Trauma Center is also a first for the Onslow County agency.
“The partnership has led to innovations in EMS, most specifically our Low Titer O Whole Blood Program (LTOWB), a first in North Carolina; the program has led to numerous lives being saved that otherwise would not have made it to the emergency department trauma bay,” explained Grovdahl.
Both NMCCL and OCEMS have LTOWB programs meaning they are able to administer low titer blood, or whole blood with low levels of antibodies, for trauma patients. Low titer blood is valuable as it can be transfused in its original form quickly to a patient who has lost a significant amount of blood.
Before launching their LTOWB program in December 2019, Grovdahl sat down with NMCCL’s Trauma Director, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Douglas Pokorny, to coordinate logistics and training for all involved.
“The NMCCL Whole Blood Program began in May of 2019 and quickly showed merit in treating hemorrhagic shock,” said Pokorny. “After witnessing the profound effects of whole blood, Onslow County made tremendous strides and was able to launch their prehospital whole blood program only seven months after our facility…without our partnership it would likely have been difficult to achieve a functional program in such a short time period.”
The solid partnership between OCEMS and the NMCCL Trauma Center extends beyond the whole blood programs; the agencies have collaborated on several ventures like ambulance “ride-alongs” for U.S. Navy hospital corpsmen. The ride-alongs provide corpsmen with training at the first point of care, making them familiar with field medicine they otherwise may not have experienced in their short careers yet.
A statement announcing the annual winners of the NAEMT highlights another partnership milestone, “In 2018, OCEMS along with the Naval Medical Center’s Level III Trauma Center began teaching Stop the Bleed. More than 6,000 civilians have now completed the training and every law enforcement officer in Onslow County now has a Stop the Bleed kit and tourniquets.”
Pokorny is grateful for the partnership crediting the OCEMS as a force for strengthening the relationship with the civilian patient community. NMCCL began treating non-Department of Defense trauma patients in 2018.
“The close relationship with OCEMS has allowed our providers to become familiar faces among Onslow County’s personnel,” Pokorny said. “We have gained their trust, have shown that we are always willing to assist with any of their patients, and provide optimal care giving the patient their best chance of survival.”
The hopes for future growth of the partnership between the agencies is mutual. The NMCCL Trauma Center is currently working to set up a trauma survivors’ network to reunite patients with their OCEMS and NMCCL providers. Grovdahl believes that even though each agency has a different mission profile, they share a great deal of common ground.
“The knowledge garnered from the battlefields around the world has been efficiently and effectively applied to our civilian mission, and our community is better for it,” Grovdahl said. “There is no greater honor than knowing we were able to participate in preparing our military counterparts for defending our freedom.”
OCEMS has been a staple of the local community for more than 30 years. Since 2018, OCEMS has transported 2,002 patients to the NMCCL Trauma Center for care.
| Date Taken: | 09.16.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 09.29.2020 07:53 |
| Story ID: | 379342 |
| Location: | CAMP LEJEUNE, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 43 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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