Medavie Health Services

DYK? A cardiac arrest and heart attack are not the same thing. Dr. Andrew Travers, EHS Provincial Medical Director, explains. #CPRMonth #SaveLivesNS

Originally called Armistice Day, Remembrance Day is the anniversary of the end of the hostilities during the First World War at 11am we take a moment to honour all those who served. Lest we forget.

The EHS AED Registry is growing! There are now more than 1,220 registered devices! Register your AED to help prepare your community to save lives. For more on the EHS AED Registry, please visit: https://savelivesns.ca/ #CPRMonth #SaveLivesNS

Perth County Paramedic Services demonstrated their commitment to patient safety by springing into action and developing a respiratory protection program to ensure all staff were fit tested for primary, secondary and tertiary N95 masks, with enhanced cleaning service contracts. Perth also partnered with Medavie EMS Elgin and Chatham-Kent EMS to effectively distribute Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) between the Ontario companies for general operations, remote monitoring, policy and infection prevention and control practices. Through this partnership, the Ontario companies were able to streamline data metrics to allow for close monitoring of PPE, transmission prevalence and call volume distributions. Great teamwork! #CPSW2020 #HeartOurHealthCareWorkers

During a cardiac arrest, the first three links in the Heart & Stroke chain of survival are: calling 911 immediately, performing CPR, and using an AED. These three steps greatly increase the chance of survival. #CPRMonth #SaveLivesNS

Across Medavie, our fleet teams consistently work to ensure that our ambulances are properly sanitized and stocked with all the equipment that paramedics need to properly respond to patient calls. Throughout the pandemic, all cleaning services were enhanced on ambulances to ensure proper sanitization and the safety of our patients and front-line employees. Fleet teams also helped support distributing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) across the country to ensure that our employees had access to the equipment they needed to help keep them and our patients safe. #CPSW2020 #HeartOurHealthCareWorkers

Paramedics providing care to people in their homes fills gaps in health service delivery for patients allowing for them to be treated quickly, and in a comfortable setting. It also prevents unnecessary emergency department visits and reduces the burden on long-term care facilities. This is why Ontario is moving to expand existing community paramedicine programs and create opportunity for new ones. In this Toronto Sun opinion piece, Erik Sande, President of Medavie Health Services, discusses the significant benefits of giving paramedics an expanded role in communities and how these frontline workers are supporting COVID-19 efforts across the province.

WATCH: Troy Davies with Medavie Health Services joins Global News Morning to discuss their Heart Safe program, with November being CPR Awareness Month. More Morning News videos: https://trib.al/DPZp9Fr

Holly's become an Medavie Health Services West celebrity!

Sydney, N.S. - Paramedics in Nova Scotia deliver many different life-saving medications and, as with any medication administered, there are significant steps pu...t in place to ensure the safety of those patients receiving care. Tenecteplase (TNK) is a clot-busting medication that is given for treatment of a heart attack. Originally administered only by physicians, TNK has since been integrated into the prehospital setting and is routinely administered by Nova Scotia’s Advanced Care Paramedics. By bringing this medication directly to the patient, this significantly cuts down the time to treatment, leading to improved oxygenated blood flow to the heart muscle much sooner. It’s all about time. In the past, you wouldn’t have had this medication available to you until the paramedics got into the hospital, said Michael MacKenzie, an Advanced Care Paramedic in Sydney. The longer that the heart muscle is deprived of blood, the more damage that is occurring. So the sooner that you can restore that or dissolve the clot, the less damage that’s going to happen to the heart. MacKenzie, who has been in paramedicine for 18 years, was one of the first paramedics in Nova Scotia to administer TNK. There was a whole lot of legwork that led up to it being launched here and us being able to actually administer it on a call, he said. Since then, MacKenzie explained, he has seen a marked difference it has made out in the field. It basically dissolves the clot, therefore allowing the blood to return to the part of the heart that was deprived of it, he said. With patient safety in mind, there are a number of steps paramedics must go through before being able to administer TNK. This includes performing an electrocardiogram (ECG) and identifying the heart attack, followed by the completion of a standardized checklist. Next, the paramedics send the patient’s ECG directly to the physician at the emergency department, at which time clinical discussions between the paramedics and the physician occur before administering the TNK. So we have very strong criteria that the patients have to meet in order for us to proceed with this, said MacKenzie, who is also a community paramedic. One the best things about the career, is that it’s constantly changing, he added. Whether it’s skills, or equipment, or medications, it’s constantly changing, so it keeps your interest for sure. #ConquerSilence #CanadianPatientSafetyWeek #PatientSafety

As COVID-19 hit, EHS Operations' Performance & Development (P&D) department was tasked with quickly fitting every paramedic in the province with the new 7500 series respirators and the existing 1870-plus disposable masks. Luke Slysz, the interim risk management coordinator in the P&D department, led the effort, which included developing a strategy to fit-test everybody in a very short time frame, identifying a process, finding staff to do the specimen collection, training st...aff for the fit-testing in a matter of a few days, and getting it on the road. The collaboration between P&D, the EHS Medical Communications Centre and Operations was key to fit-testing nearly 1,000 paramedics in 12 days on two different masks no small feat given how spread out paramedics are across the province and in the middle of a pandemic, no less. #CPSW2020 #HeartOurHealthCareWorkers

Island EMS immediately responded to the pandemic by introducing rigorous disinfection procedures. This included an increase in whole unit disinfection of IEMS vehicles and equipment to ensure the safety of front-line staff and their patients. All IEMS paramedics received upgraded Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including being fit for new respirators and disposable masks, to respond to COVID-19 suspected calls and receive regular wellness checks after being exposed to potential COVID-19 calls. IEMS paramedics have set a great example of following social distancing guidelines where appropriate, wearing their non-medical masks at bases and increasing hand hygiene. #CPSW2020 #HeartOurHealthCareWorkers

The New Brunswick Extra-Mural Program has been administering swab tests to patients across the province and keeping their in-home patients safe by adopting new screening practices. Recently, four Provincial Rapid Outbreak Management Teams (PROMT) one for each region of NB were added to the Extra-Mural Program team and are on standby for any outbreaks in one of the province’s Adult Residential Facilities. Led by an Operational Lead from EM/ANB, the teams are comprised of four Nurse Practitioners, 10 Registered Nurses and eight Licensed Practical Nurses. #CPSW2020 #HeartOurHealthCareWorkers

Le personnel du Programme extra-mural du Nouveau-Brunswick réalise des tests de dépistage de la COVID-19 auprès de patients partout dans la province et assure la sécurité des patients qui reçoivent des soins à domicile en adoptant de nouvelles pratiques de dépistage. Récemment, quatre équipes provinciales de gestion rapide des éclosions (EPGRE), soit une pour chacune des régions du Nouveau-Brunswick, se sont ajoutées à l’équipe du Programme extra-mural et se tiennent prêtes à intervenir advenant une éclosion dans un des établissements résidentiels pour adultes de la province. Dirigées par un responsable des opérations d’EM/ANB, les équipes sont formées de quatre infirmiers praticiens, de dix infirmiers immatriculés et de huit infirmiers auxiliaires autorisés. #SNSP2020 #MerciDeToutCoeurAuxTravailleursDeLaSanté

Medavie EMS Elgin (MEMSEO) in Ontario ensured their commitment to patient safety by quickly dedicating a full-time individual to manage COVID-19 information and work closely with provincial infectious control specialists and public health experts. A short-term contract logistics person was also hired to assist with additional cleaning and sanitization procedures. Through a partnership with local health care professionals and hospitals, a manager was qualified to conduct COV...ID-19 specimen collection to support rapid and barrier free access to assessment and testing for all health care employees. This allowed for limited time spent in isolation and further minimized the risk of transmission. By working together with their provincial partners in Perth and Chatham-Kent, the Ontario companies were able to protect patients and employees from unnecessary spread of COVID-19. #CPSW2020 #HeartOurHealthCareWorkers

Medavie Health Services West took quick action during the pandemic to ensure patient safety and a healthy workforce. Paramedics in Alberta and Saskatchewan changed ambulance configuration, increased disinfecting procedures, completed respiratory FIT testing and all paramedics were provided with appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when responding to patient calls and continued to provide necessary education and onboarding. Saskatchewan Paramedics working in the c...ommunity also began specimen collection with patients who were unable to get to a testing centre, including residents living in long-term care facilities. That focus on integrated care continues as Medavie Health Services West works with multi-disciplinary teams at Saskatchewan Air Ambulance, in emergency departments and with Saskatoon City Police as part of their tactical support unit to keep patients safe. #CPSW2020 #HeartOurHealthCareWorkers

The last full week of October is Respiratory Therapist Week and we are once again proud to celebrate the work of our many Respiratory Therapists with the Extra-...Mural Program. The importance of Respiratory Therapists has never been clearer than during the COVID-19 pandemic, a mainly respiratory illness. Your skills and knowledge during these ongoing difficult times has been, and will continue to be, absolutely vital. We can all breathe a little easier knowing you are there to help! Thank you! (Photo on left was taken pre-COVID-19, before social distancing measures were in place)

As the first point of contact for emergency calls, our communications centres across the country have been working diligently to ensure the safety of our front-line staff and our patients. A key part of that is the screen process through which all calls are taken. At our communications centre within EHS Operations, Medavie Health Services New Brunswick, Medavie Health Services West and at Medacom in PEI, all 911 callers are screened for potential COVID-19 symptoms to ensure that paramedics are provided with accurate screening information and wear appropriate PPE for the call. This is why it’s important that all 911 callers answer their screening questions as honestly as possible, helping our communications teams ensure paramedics are able to respond as quickly and efficiently as possible. #CPSW2020 #HeartOurHealthCareWorkers

At the start of the pandemic, Chatham-Kent EMS quickly enhanced their procedures for infection control and how they assessed and cared for respiratory-like illnesses or suspected infectious disease patients, including improving their respiratory infection program. Chatham-Kent EMS paramedics have also introduced specimen collection for home-bound patients, within workplaces and schools and supported mobile testing across their community. And, through improved vehicle and equipment disinfection equipment and procedures, their team has been actively helping to decrease the spread of COVID-19 across the region. #CPSW2020 #HeartOurHealthCareWorkers