RPS expected to put advanced truck in Haleyville

HALEYVILLE - With an increase in the number of calls for ambulance service in Marion and Winston counties, a new type of ambulance is expected to be seen on the streets of Haleyville soon.
Mayor Ken Sunseri told the Haleyville City Council during their Dec. 17, meeting that Regional Paramedical Service Ambulance has notified Lakeland Community Hospital that they are opening up an advanced truck - or ambulance - in Hamilton, with plans to do the same thing in Haleyville soon.  However, there are differences between an advanced truck and a medic truck, Sunseri told the council and audience.
According to an email regarding the new truck provided to the Alabamian, staff upon an advanced truck - contrary to its name -  actually can perform less procedures than those on a regular medic ambulance.  Personnel on an advanced truck can begin an IV or an IO (intraosseous infusion, or provide a non-collapsible entry point into the person’s venous system to provide fluids and medication when an IV cannot be done).  They can also insert a King Airway (an alternative to intubation or mask ventilation) for patients  who are unconscious or cannot breathe on their own.  Advanced truck staff will not be able to intubate patients with an endotracheal or ET tube.  They will also not be able to monitor a patient’s cardiac rhythm, give all the medications that a medic can or take patients receiving drips or blood.
“Their plan is to have them handle discharges mostly,”  Sunseri read.  
Discharges or transfers are when a patient is discharged from one facility - with Lakeland Community Hospital or an area nursing home being local examples - then transferred to another hospital.
Sunseri added that the advanced trucks may have to run some 9-1-1 calls if the medic trucks located in the area are tied up on other calls.  The advanced truck will only be sent out on seizures or cardiac arrest if no other truck is available to go.
The next meeting of the Haleyville City Council will be Monday, Jan. 6, at 5:30 p.m. in the court room at Haleyville City Hall.