The Seattle & King County Emergency Medical Services System is a fire-based two-tier response system providing prehospital basic and advanced life support services.

There are six paramedic provider programs in the system. The Seattle Fire Department operates Seattle Medic One. The program is funded by the city's general fund and has a different administrative structure than the five other Medic One programs.^[2] The five other Medic One programs with the exception of King County Medic One are operated by fire departments under a formal contract with the EMS Division of Public Health - Seattle & King County.^[3] King County Medic One is directly operated by the EMS Division.

The modern EMS system in King County began operation in 1970 with 15 paramedics staffing one paramedic unit in Seattle. In 2009 there are 255 paramedics^[4] from six paramedic programs staffing 26 paramedic units.^[5][6]

The system is a dynamic layered response system. An EMS response to an emergency begins with a telephone call to 9-1-1. Calls are transferred from a primary call taker to emergency medical call taker who gathers information from the caller, gives instructions to the caller, and determines what types of emergency personnel to send. For very serious and life threatening emergencies firefighters trained in basic life support and paramedics trained in advanced life support respond simultaneously. Paramedics transport patients in critical condition. For less severe emergencies only firefighters will be dispatched. Basic life support personnel from either a fire department or private ambulance company transport non-critical patients.

History[link]

Seattle Paramedic Unit

King County Paramedic Unit

In 1968, motivated by the work of Frank Pantridge cardiologist Leonard Cobb proposed to the chief of the Seattle Fire Department, Gordon Vickery, training firefighters to treat cardiac arrest. The department was attractive to Cobb because it already provided first aid and tracked its performance electronically.^[8]

In 1969, they trained fifteen firefighters and used a grant from the Washington/Alaska Regional Medical Program to convert a large motor home into a Mobile Coronary Care Unit (nicknamed “Moby Pig”) which would respond to calls with both the firefighter paramedics and a physician on board.

The first Medic One call was on March 7, 1970 and during the program's first year, 31 lives were saved.^[9] The following year the program was changed, replacing the on-board doctors with fire department paramedics given advanced special training and remote access to the doctors.

In 1974, TV news-magazine, 60 Minutes, profiled the success of Medic One, lauding the high standards of training and education provided by the Seattle training program. Correspondent Morley Safer declared, “If you have to have a heart attack, have it in Seattle.” A phrase still used frequently in conjunction with Medic One, due to its continued success which is reflected in the area's high survival rate for heart attacks and their comprehensive CPR training program.^[10][11]

That same year Medic One incorporated as a privately held, non-profit organization and established the Medic One Foundation, which works on behalf of both fund raising and the expansion of the program. The program is financed by local property tax levies, which are voted on by the public every six years, along with private and corporate donations.^[11]

Medic One service was expanded throughout King County in 1976^[12] and, at that time, had been credited with saving the lives of 655 people who were clinically dead at the time paramedics arrived on scene. As the program's reputation grew, other counties in Washington State began adopting their own Medic One programs in conjunction with the Medic One Foundation.

In 1979, the program further evolved when Cobb worked with UW professor Mickey Eisenberg to start the training of fire department emergency medical technician - basics to administer defibrillation treatment, as these EMTs are first on the scene, often arriving prior to the paramedics by several minutes. In 1982 a program was launched training 9-1-1 dispatchers to provide CPR instructions over the phone. The advent of automatic heart defibrillators in 1984 made it even easier for EMTs to treat heart attack victims.^[13]

Programs[link]

There are six paramedic programs in the Medic One system.

Seattle Medic One[link]

Seattle Medic One is the paramedic provider program serving Seattle. It is operated by the Seattle Fire Department. The paramedic medical director for Seattle Medic One is Michael Copass. The Seattle program conducts field internships for the University of Washington Paramedic Training Program.^[19]

King County Medic One[link]

King County Medic One is the paramedic service serving all of South King County provided by Public Health - Seattle & King County.^[19] Its medical director is Tom Rea.

Structure[link]

Founded on strong physician leadership Medic One is structured around response, training, and quality improvement.

One of the primary components to the success of Medic One is their “Tiered Response System” which begins with the citizen call to the 9-1-1 center. Emergency Medical Dispatchers are trained to rapidly triage the call to dispatch the appropriate level of assistance, while providing pre-arrival instruction of CPR. Firefighters, with EMT training, respond first to deliver immediate Basic Life Support (BLS), pending the arrival of the paramedics. Specially trained paramedics arrive within minutes to provide Advanced Life Support (ALS) and, if needed, can provide transportation to the nearest appropriate Medical Center.^[25]

The system is successful due to the blended cooperation between the fire department and paramedic/ambulance services, as well as, a strict policy of meticulous measurement of system performance and cardiac arrest survival information. Strong leadership and regional programs promote uniformity in medical care and response, regardless of jurisdiction.^[9]

Another critical element to the Medic One program is the comprehensive training program for the paramedics, one of the most stringent anywhere, making their paramedics some of the most thoroughly trained in the world. Only paramedics with at least three years of prior firefighter or EMT experience may enter the program. Medic One paramedics receive 2,000 hours of instruction, using both “book” studies and hands on field and clinical application through both the University of Washington and Harborview Medical Center. The national standard for paramedic training is just 1,100 hours. Medic One paramedics will have more than 700 patient contacts during their training, which is three times the national standard. Upon completion of training Medic One paramedics are considered to be an extension of the ER doctors and may perform advanced medical care, open airways and administer a variety of medications^[10]

The final component is an emphasis on community based CPR training, called Medic Two. The Seattle/King County area has the highest per capita number of citizens that are trained in the administration of CPR techniques, approximately 50% of its residents.^[26]

Leadership[link]

Medic One is operated as a partnership between physicians and administrators. Medical directors review patient care by paramedics and can make recommendations including decertification and termination. Administrators act upon the recommendations of the medical director.^[27]

Response[link]

The major components of Medic One's response system are universal access, dispatcher triage, basic life support services, advanced life support services, and transport to hospitals.^[24]

A medical 9-1-1 call is handled by one of the following communication centers Seattle Fire Department Alarm Center, Valley Communications Center, North East King County Regional Public Safety Communication Agency, Port of Seattle Police Department Communications Center, or Enumclaw Police Department Communications Center.

Medic One dispatchers use criteria based dispatch guidelines to send the most appropriate care providers. The three response levels are basic with advanced life support units, emergency BLS only, and non-emergency BLS only.^[28]

The first tier is basic life support provided by cross-trained firefighter emergency medical technician - basics.

The second tier is advanced life support.

Basic life support transports for 9-1-1 calls are provided by either a fire department or one of the private ambulance companies American Medical Response and Tri-Med Ambulance. Advanced life support transports for 9-1-1 calls are provided by paramedics.

Education[link]

Break down of training^[29]

All paramedics in King County are graduates of the University of Washington Paramedic Training Program regardless of previous training. The training is 1,866 total hours consisting of 380 lecture hours, 120 lab hours, 466 clinical hours in the operating room and emergency department at Harborview Medical Center and critical care unit and labor and delivery at Seattle Children's Hospital, and 900 field internship hours with Seattle Medic One.^[30] Students see an average of 700 patient contacts.

Improvement[link]

The paramedic medical director for the one of six Medic One programs that provided care reviews every resuscitation, intubation, and central-line placement attempt. That director provides both positive and negative feedback. For probationary paramedics a more rigorous review is conducted.^[15]

Funding[link]

Medic One paramedic programs are funded by a property tax levy. Basic life support services receive partial funding from the levy. The levy passed in 1979, 1985, 1991, 1998, 2001, and 2008.^[31] The levy did not pass in 1997.^[32]

The Medic One Foundation is a nonprofit charitable foundation supporting paramedic training, research, medical oversight and quality review, and the purchasing of emergency medical equipment.^[33]

Performance[link]

Cardiac Arrest[link]

A change in the protocol of emergency response personnel is also credited as contributing to the high survival rate in the region. Guidelines set by the American Heart Association in 2000, recommend repeated shocks from a defibrillator and to check for a pulse prior to starting CPR. Medic One guidelines, established in 2005, are to provide a single shock from a defibrillator followed immediately by two minutes of CPR, beginning with chest compressions. This has dropped the average time between first shock to starting CPR from twenty-eight seconds to seven seconds, resulting in a near 50% increase in the previous rate of survival. For every one-hundred cardiac arrest calls, now an additional thirteen patients will live.^[34]

In King County outcomes of attempted out-of-hospital resuscitations are recorded, following the Utstein uniform reporting guidelines, in a cardiac arrest registry. In 2008 Medic One's survival rate for witnessed cardiac arrests due to heart disease prior to EMS arrival with initial rhythm of ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia was 49%.^[1]

The average response time for basic life support personnel for cardiac arrests from time of 9-1-1 being dialed to arrival is 4 minutes 40 seconds and for advanced life support personnel is 9 minutes 45 seconds.^[39]

In 2008, 58% (530/920) of EMS-treated cardiac arrests not witnessed by EMS in Seattle & King County CPR was initiated by a bystander.^[1]

Endotracheal intubation[link]

Seattle Medic One's first-pass success rate for oral endotracheal intubation is 75% (years 2001–2005).^[40] Its overall success rate is 98.4%.

Research[link]

• Cardiac Arrest Blood Study (CABS)
• AutoPulse Assisted Prehospital International Resuscitation (ASPIRE) Trial ^[41]
• Transthoracic Incremental Monophasic Versus Biphasic by Emergency Responders (TIMBER)
• Dispatcher-Assisted Resuscitation Trial (DART)^[42]
• Emergency Medical Technician Treatment of Hypoglycemia in the Field
• Induced Hypothermia for Cardiac Arrest Patients
• Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium
• SPHERE Hypertension Intervention Study
• At-Home Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Training Study

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

Star of life

Medic is a general term for a person involved in medicine, especially emergency or first-response medicine, such as an emergency medical technician, paramedic, or a military member trained in battlefield medicine. Also the term is used for a nurse in pre-hospital care and/or emergency departments. It may also refer to a medical student or, in limited settings, a physician. In the UK, the term "medic" amongst doctors indicates that someone has followed a "medical" career path accredited by the MRCP such as cardiology or endocrinology. This is in contrast to a surgical branch of specialisation in postgraduate professional training.

Types[link]

A German military medic providing first aid to a wounded soldier during the Battle of France, 1940

Medic may be specifically used to refer to people in the following roles:

• Combat Medical Technician, a soldier with a specialist military trade within the Royal Army Medical Corps of the British Army.
• Corpsman, a sailor who is trained for providing medical care to members of the US Armed Forces, first aid, combat casualty care/trauma care on the battlefield. (This name is only used by the Navy and Marine Corps for the Hospital Corpsman who serve in either a Navy or Marine billet; other branches use the term medic.)
  • "4N0X1", is an Air Force medic.
  • "68W", formerly 91W, the Military Occupational Specialty for the United States Army's health care specialist (combat medic).
• Emergency medical technician: The procedures and skills allowed at this level are generally non-invasive such as bleeding control, positive pressure ventilation with a bag valve mask, supplemental oxygen administration, and splinting (including full spinal immobilization). In some locations, the EMT-B is trained to reduce joint dislocations - they are allowed one attempt - to reduce the risk of compartmentalization.^{[citation needed]} Splinting a femur fracture may involve use of a traction splint, which will reduce the fracture. Some medications (for example, epinephrine for anaphylactic shock (severe allergic reaction) administered through an auto injection device such as an EpiPen) can only be administered or "assisted" to a patient with a prior prescription. Training requirements and treatment protocols vary from area to area.^{[citation needed]}
  • Emergency medical technician - basic, the entry certification level.
  • Emergency medical technician - intermediate, the middle certification level, between EMT-Basic and Paramedic.
  • Paramedic, a pre-hospital responder to medical and trauma emergencies that provides advanced emergency treatment.
• Emergency physician, a medical doctor (M.D. or D.O.) who has specialized post graduate training in emergency diagnostics and treatment.
• First Aider, a person who is specifically trained to give initial care or treatment to a casualty on scene before more advanced personnel arrives. Organizations such as St. John Ambulance, St. Andrew’s Ambulance Association and the British Red Cross have many trained volunteer first aiders who are often referred to as medics.

See also[link]

Medicine portal

• Advanced Life Support
• Basic Life Support
• Emergency medical service
• Medical Encyclopedia
• National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians
• National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians
• Street medic
• Triage