Emergency Medical Services

Use public funds to help train volunteer EMT's The Sun's article "Ambulance volunteers overwhelmed" (Dec. 19) examined a very real problem facing Emergency Medical Technicians and the Maryland counties they serve -- the viability of an all-volunteer system in the face of a growing suburban population and whether counties should supplement their volunteer EMTs with paid personnel. However that is resolved, another equally important problem faces volunteers today: the lack of up-to date training.

A new proposal to create a Cabinet-level department to oversee Maryland's emergency medical services is no remedy for what ails the trauma care system. The idea, as floated by two legislators, sounds more like a grandiose prescription for trouble - and a scheme to privatize the state-run medevac helicopter service. The Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems has come under scrutiny since a state police helicopter crashed in Prince George's County in September while en route to a trauma center.

Maryland's world-renowned emergency medical system took a hit when a state police helicopter crashed in Prince George's County last fall, killing four people on board. Subsequent calls for change in the way Maryland operates its emergency medical system prompted an intense review of policies on transporting patients to trauma centers around the state and that has led to some needed reforms, with more to come. But the emergency medical system's service to all Marylanders should be preserved as a publicly funded and operated network for accident victims.

On February 1, 2003, EDNA L. GOLDERMAN, employee of Black & Decker from 1941 to 1981. Daughter of the late Ray mond and Catherine Golderman, sister of Mary E. Emmart and the late Louis Golderman, aunt of Michael, Daniel, Thomas and Glenn Emmart, Joyce Schulte and Linda Brzeczko. She is also survived by several grand-nieces and one grand-nephew, step-sister of Al Wehner. A Vigil Service will be held at the family owned Leonard J. Ruck Inc. Funeral Home, 5305 Harford Rd., (at Echodale) on Tuesday, at 3 P.M. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Dominic Church on Wednesday at 12 noon.

An article in some editions of The Evening Sun yesterday on the appointment of Dr. Robert Redwood Bass, executive director of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems, incorrectly stated his duties. He does not supervise the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, whose director is John W. Ashworth.The Evening Sun regrets the error.

During the week of May 19-25, 2013, Maryland joins the rest of the nation in celebrating National Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Week. I commend the Maryland EMS providers who respond every day of every month to emergency situations, making our statewide EMS and trauma system a national model for life-saving care. With Gov. Martin O'Malley's commitment to public safety and the well-being of all Maryland's citizens, he has recognized the accomplishments of EMS providers by designating Emergency Medical Services Week in Maryland.

It's an emergency -- who ya gonna call?Well, it used to be the Anne Arundel County Fire Department.But not anymore.The department formerly known as Anne Arundel County Fire has a new moniker: Anne Arundel County EMS/Fire/Rescue.The new name reflects an essential shift in services, said Stephen D. Halford, county fire administrator."We used to be a fire department which occasionally handled emergency medical services calls. Our system has now evolved to the point where we are really an EMS department which occasionally handles fire calls," Halford said.

Using the national theme for EMS Week of "We're Ready -- Are You?" local emergency medical services personnel will kick off a celebration in Carroll County on Sunday.Activities during the week aim to educate the public about emergency medical care and how to use local emergency services.Other activities will include recognizing local EMS providers for their services throughout the year and highlighting ways to prevent injuries.Many Marylanders, including some from Carroll, will be honored May 27 at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore for their heroic, life-saving action or for distinguished service to the EMS community.

ANNAPOLIS -- Several organizations of doctors and nurses are recommending that the state's emergency medical system be removed from the University of Maryland's orbit to erase the possibility of a conflict of interest.As an alternative, they are calling for an independent board -- without direct ties to any hospital -- to oversee the system.The groups told a gubernatorial panel Friday that they were troubled by the affiliation of Emergency Medical Services with the Maryland Shock Trauma Center -- both of which fall under the broad umbrella of the University of Maryland.

Jennifer Stuckert of Odenton and Patricia DeWitt Rayfield of Severna Park, both students at Anne Arundel Community College, are among some 200 interns from 41 states selected to work at the White House this spring.*Ty Roberts, son of Jim and Priscilla Roberts of Woodley Road and a member of the Archbishop Curley High School Concert Band and Jazz Ensemble, has been accepted as a member of the 1994 Spirit of America National Honor Band Performing Tour of Europe.*Troy L. Simmons, a student in Baltimore City Community College's Emergency Medical Services Program, has been awarded the First Sergeant Vernon Z. Scholarship by the Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter No. 451.@