This month Armstrong completed our annual inspection with The Department of Public Health/Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS).

Once again, Armstrong received high marks in all areas and OEMS reported they were extremely impressed with our service, equipment, vehicles, protocols and personnel.

A sincere thank you to all our staff and crew members for their constant readiness and attention to detail. We are extremely proud of our team’s efforts as they are not only very impacting but also clearly noted and greatly appreciated by OEMS.

As evidenced by our 6 plus year accreditation status by CAAS, (the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services), we have set our standards high and have reached them each and every year. As we enter our 72nd year of service, all of us at Armstrong continue to strive for excellence and remain committed to providing the highest standard of care to our communities, partners and patients.

As health care costs have risen and ridesharing apps become more common, people are increasingly relying on Uber and other ridesharing companies to transport themselves to the hospital instead of dialing 9-1-1 for an ambulance. Ridesharing apps, such as Uber offer on-demand and convenient transportation to individuals who are not seriously injured, ill or suffering from complicating factors. In simplest terms, Uber can drop off passengers to outpatient medical appointments, similar to an old-fashioned “taxi voucher”. However, not everyone is healthy enough to be transported in a passenger vehicle driven by a layperson, especially when seeking urgent medical attention. Rideshare drivers are, generally, untrained, self-employed workers driving their own cars on a part-time basis. They’re not medical professionals and are not prepared or trained to deal with medical emergencies. Fully equipped ambulances, staffed by highly skilled Paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians, using high-tech supplies and equipment are the best choice to call upon, care for and transport in the case of stroke, heart attack, trauma, and other serious medical emergencies, or to care for patients with special needs requiring medical management.

The American Ambulance Association released a video to promote public awareness of the many differences between rideshare companies (Uber/Lyft) and medically-necessary mobile healthcare ambulance service providers. We encourage you to watch the video to fully understand the differences between Ambulance providers who help save and sustain PATIENT lives and rideshare companies who provide safe transportation for PASSENGERS to get from one location to another.

  On behalf of Armstrong Ambulance Service, we wanted to extend a sincere thank you to all the donors who rolled up their sleeves and supported our blood drive Thursday, February 15th. Thanks to the generosity of Armstrong employees, other First Responders and members of the surrounding communities, The American Red Cross was able to collect 35 units of blood, exceeding our set goal of 32 units!

The real winners are the patients in need of blood. As we know, each blood donation will help save three lives, and with the success of our drive, our donors helped save a total of 105 lives!

We also extend a big thank you to Ed Kelly, Bob Gardner and the many volunteers who combined efforts to make this important event possible. Your time and donations are truly appreciated and most of all will give life and hope to blood recipients and their loved ones. Once again, we thank you all who came out and supported this great cause to help others.

Armstrong Ambulance has partnered with The American Red Cross of Massachusetts and will be hosting a blood drive February 15th at our Alpha-Arlington Base! Please join us in going red during the month of February to recognize American Heart Month and sign up to give the gift of life. Our goal is to have a total of 50 donors day of,  saving 150 lives! The need is constant. The gratification is instant. Give blood. ™

To sign up to donate please click link:

 https://www.redcrossblood.org/give/drive/driveSearchList.jsp?zipSponsor=Armstrong

OR

Call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767)

Armstrong EMT, Alex Cristofori and Armstrong’s donated winter clothing. 

Thanks to Armstrong EMT, Alexander Cristofori, Armstrong had a successful 2nd annual Winter Warmth Clothing Drive. For the second year in a row, Alex  partnered with Bay Cove Human Services to organize a drive and help spread warmth throughout our community. This year Armstrong collected 62 jackets, 30 sweaters, 11 pants, 15 scarves, 5 pairs socks, 23 pairs of gloves, 15 hats, 3 blankets and 3 pairs of boots. A grand total of 160 pieces of warm clothing were donated to Bay Cove Human Services to help keep our community members warmer this winter season.

We would like to extend a thank you to all who so generously donated items for this special cause. Your kindness will help make this season warmer for those who need it most!

Armstrong Ambulance is pleased to announce that our talented crew members recently received two awards given by the Office of Emergency Medical Services, (OEMS), Region III.

The first award was given for “Team Response” and was presented to Medics, Davin Fors, Jaime Albano and Wayne Gilbert as well as EMTs Richard Barnes, Elliot Burshtein, Anthony Case, Jon Gould and Kimberly Vermilya.

Teamwork In Action

On July 22, 2015, a bus carrying nine special needs passengers was struck by a car in Medford. Due to the mental states of the passengers, a MCI was declared. Subsequently, all patients needed to be transported due to their inability to accurately assess the situation and sign refusals if they so chose. The Armstrong team did a phenomenal job with minimizing the confusion of the situation.

Additionally, all crew members calmed the passengers and quelled their fears as they planned a course of action. The Armstrong crews were able to care for and transport all of the patients to two area hospitals. After transferring care to the facilities, the crews remained at the hospitals to assist staff with researching information regarding the patients as well as assisting the facility staff with helping the patients feel comfortable in what they perceived as an intimidating and upsetting setting.

(Armstrong Field Operations Manager, Davin Fors, accepting the “Team Response” award)

The second winner was Paramedic Scott Morency for “Educator of the Year”.

Educator Extraordinaire

“Scott is an enthusiastic and engaging instructor who consistently receives high marks from his students. In addition to his duties as an ACLS and PALS instructor, he serves as Armstrong’s lead EMS instructor and Clinical Services Manager. Whether engaging with fellow EMS colleagues, skilled nursing facility staff, municipal partners or community attendees, Scott is masterful with his communication, thus insuring that information and skills are effectively received. Scott never approaches each teaching moment with a “one size fits all” attitude.”

(Clinical Service Manager, Scott Morency receiving his “Educator of the Year” award)

We could not be prouder of our Armstrong crews and we thank them for their continual hard work and dedication to our patients and partners.

Armstrong was happy to support the City of Medford’s “Overcoming Addiction” organization by providing EMT services at their First Annual Kickball Tournament. This incredible group is focused on “joining together to battle the disease of addiction” and their passion can certainly be felt.

Armstrong EMT, Pete Reed, was touched by the kind words he received from attendees. In Pete’s words: “I received so many heartfelt thank you’s from families that Armstrong has helped in Medford. It gave me a sense of pride knowing that the Medics and EMTs mean so much to these families.”

Pictured are EMT Pete Reed with event organizers Janell Rocco, Alysia Lagambina and Mike Phillips.

Armstrong will be offering a Paramedic Course starting this fall! In conjunction with EMTS, Inc. we will offer a full Paramedic day course at our Woburn, MA training facility beginning 9/9/15. See the attached flyer for more information or visit www.emtsinc.com.

Fall Paramedic Program

Hallmark Health held their annual Stride For Healthy Communities and what a day it was! Lake Quannapowitt was filled with hundreds of runners and walkers who all laced up to support invaluable outreach programs which benefit members of numerous communities.

Armstrong had quite a showing not only with our touch a truck, but also with EMTs Omar Wahid and Tori Shaw finishing first in their respective categories.

The Boston Bruins Ice Girls and mascot, Blades were on hand as well and received stellar attention from our crews, Mike Bachelder, Kris Smith, Alessandro Colarusso and Preston Angelucci. Now that’s a detail to remember!

Unfortunately, workplace safety is a realistic concern. Rich Raymond, Armstrong CEO and Executive Director of the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council Foundation,knows that first hand as he was a first responder to Edgewater Technology on Dec. 26, 2000 during a mass shooting by an employee that left seven coworkers dead.

Since that time, Rich has promoted workplace safety and preparedness. For that reason, Rich has been an integral part of the NEMLEC Foundation and works in conjunction with talented law enforcement officials in an effort to keep all work environments safe.

Knowing the importance of education and readiness, Rich is personally inviting the business community to attend The Business Safety Summit on June 18th to discuss business safety focused on recognizing, responding to, and minimizing incidents of concern and violence in the workplace.

The Business Safety Summit’s agenda consists of a speaking program of corporate security, public relations, mental health, law enforcement, executive management and healthcare professionals who will speak on best practices and training methods for effective prevention, response and intervention of potential crises, including mental health issues and violence in the workplace.

Speakers will also share case studies from their experiences to demonstrate how to avoid potential risks to companies, outline the roles and responsibilities for each discipline of the Threat Management Team and provide attendees with a checklist for self-evaluation at their own company. As well, the program will include a presentation by Shirley Singleton, the CEO of Edgewater Technology.

Speaker Keith Jones, Director of Corporate Security at Draper Labs, states “An established intervention and crisis management plan is a vital component for all businesses to include in their operations procedures.” This training will give both police and proprietors the steps to take to create a successful model for a safe working environment.”

Police chiefs and police officers from the 60-plus communities throughout Middlesex and Essex counties that comprise NEMLEC will be in attendance to learn from the speakers and to meet business leaders from their communities. “All employees should feel and be safe at work,” added District Attorney Marian Ryan.

Please join us at this very important event which could save lives.

To register, please click here.