ProMed’s CEO discusses importance of being well prepared during an emergency
EL DORADO — President and CEO of ProMed Ambulance, Ken Kelley, shared his “Emergency Preparedness and What to Do When You Call 911” presentation at the Senior Circle Lunch & Learn meeting on Wednesday. Kelley discussed important information on Union County’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) at the meeting, which took place at the Medical Center of South Arkansas.
Kelley has been a paramedic for 30 years and in Union County for 24 of those years. He earned his Bachelors of Business Administration degree from Southern Arkansas University Magnolia, received his paramedic education at Texarkana College and completed the EMS Management program at Rural/Metro University in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Kelley is a National Registry Paramedic, EMS educator, Certified Ambulance Compliance Off icer, Certified Ambulance Coder and will soon receive his Certified Ambulance Privacy Officer credentials.
He became owner of the ProMed Ambulance company in the year 2000 and has a team that is dedicated to compassion and advance care, he said. All but two members of the ProMed team have completed their critical care training, which is the highest level of paramedic certification you can achieve.
Kelley said they founded their company on five core principles including rapid response, advanced care, dedication, compassion and community support. “I have a very dedicated team that puts a lot of time and effort in,” Kelley said. “Hopefully when you hear the name ProMed, you know you’re getting a dedicated and committed staff.”
EMS is strategically designed to be available at an instant usually through the activation of the 911 system to bring help that would ordinarily not be available until you reached an emergency room.
Sixty percent of ProMed’s business is 911 services and they have a very effective joint response system in Union County. 911 is a resource that gathers information and matches it up with the appropriate resource that needs to respond. There are 16 fire stations, four ambulance services, two law enforcement agencies in addition to the other emergency management departments that are available to respond in Union County, Kelley said.
With additional training, the 911 dispatchers in Union County are able to provide emergency telephone instructions for the most critical events including severe bleeding, heart attack, stroke and hands-only CPR.
“The main thing is, when you call 911, we’re trying to minimize time,” Kelley said.
Union County does include enhanced 911 services, which allows them to pinpoint your address from your phone as soon as you call, including cell phones. Stay on the phone with the dispatcher until they say it’s OK to hang up.
If it is night time, they recommend you turn on all the lights in your house, including your porch light, if possible.
Putting your address somewhere visible outside your home is very important for the ambulance drivers. They recommend putting the numbers on both sides of your mailbox or on your front door in numbers that are at least 4 inches.
Another thing you can do to help paramedics is secure your pets. “We will not make entry a lot of times if the scene is not safe,” Kelley said. “We want to make sure that your pets are safe and that we’re safe.”
In Union County, ProMed operates advanced life support services, which is the highest level of licensed ambulance services that are available. That includes a traditional transportation component and very advanced diagnostic equipment. They have cardiac monitors, a wide variety of emergency medications and respiratory, seizure and diabetic emergency equipment.
The ambulance also includes some of the most sophisticated airway management equipment, Kelley said. Airway equipment is used in a respiratory emergency that keeps you from being placed on a ventilator when you arrive to the hospital. This can shorten your stay in the hospital by up to two weeks, he said.
All of the ProMed paramedics have an initial training of 1,200 hours. Critical Care paramedics have an additional 200 hours and every year they must put in 60 hours of constant continuing education, so they are constantly training, he said.
ProMed works very closely with the cardiac, stroke and trauma programs at MCSA and are being recognized by The American Heart Association Mission: Lifeline for the third year in a row. They will receive the Gold Plus award in May from American Heart.
ProMed also provides ProCare Plus medical alert monitoring systems in Union County. ProCare Plus devices are on the same level of equipment as Life Alert, but available locally. There are three different packages you can purchase monthly including the traditional $25 package, the $35 cellular package or the $40 GPS package. The device allows you to connect with an emergency dispatch center. There are no installation fees, no contract periods and no charge for replacement if lost.
ProMed’s PriorityCare membership is an ambulance membership program that ProMed provides to the community. Most ambulance response cost is $500 for a single trip. A ProMed PriorityCare ambulance membership helps offset any unexpected medical expenses.
There are two levels of memberships. One is for an individual, being $39 a month, or $60 gets you the total coverage for anyone in the household.
The annual enrollment period is Oct. 1 to Nov. 30, but anyone can sign up any day of the year. There is a 10 day waiting period if you sign outside of those dates.
The money from the ProMed PriorityCare program goes to three places, Kelley said. It goes to equipment that the paramedics use, training and education for the paramedics and to fund a scholarship at the SouthArk Community College to train new EMTs and paramedics.
“Statistics say that after you reach the age of 50, you have an 85 percent likelihood of meeting an ambulance,” Kelley said. “Lets not meet by accident, lets be prepared and ready to go.”
The ProMed Ambulance office phone number is 870-875-2273 and their website is www.promedambulance.com.
Kaitlyn Rigdon is a staff writer at the El Dorado News-Times and she may be reached at 870-862-6611
"I have a very dedicated team that puts a lot of time and effort in." Ken Kelley, CEO of Pro Med Ambulance