LeFlore County EMS receives gold rating

The LeFlore County Emergency Medical Service was awarded a gold tier certification by the American Heart Association.

"I'm pretty proud of that," LeFlore County EMS Director Keith Lickly said. "Everything we do is of the highest standard."

The American Heart Association evaluates EMS groups in an array of categories, including chest pains, strokes, heart attacks, abdominal pains, percentage of heart attacks with an aspirin.

Last year, the LeFlore County EMS received a silver tier certification from the American Heart Association.

Lickly said that because it operates in a rural area, the LeFlore County EMS must keep its protocols at an especially high standard.

Lickly said his staff has a very high level of training with Air Evac education every two months and online education. The LeFlore County EMS has 42 field staff, 20 part-time staff and four administrative staff.

The LeFlore County EMS has joined with a medical directors group covering 150 EMS groups based in Oklahoma City called Heartland. Lickly said that after looking at the LeFlore County EMS protocols and noting how aggressive they are, Heartland decided to merge its protocols with those of the LeFlore County EMS and raise its standard to that of the LeFlore County EMS.

Since EMS professionals are paid less than those in other health fields and have tough schedules, EMS crews face high turnover. Lickly noted that because of their high level of training, his staff members move to higherlevel jobs when they leave LeFlore County EMS.

"We never have horizontal moves," Lickly said of his departures, expressing that those who leave typically go to Lifelight, Air Evac or registered nursing at the Mercy intensive care unit.

The challenge that the LeFlore County EMS faces is that property tax funds from the county only cover 15-20 percent of its costs, and the rest must be made through billing.

Lickly said he and other EMS directors have been lobbying the state legislature for higher funding for EMS groups.

Lickly said he does his best to put the most advanced technology in LeFlore County EMS vehicles.

Soon, Lickly will be looking at adding ultrasound equipment.

"It takes very advanced training. The costs are coming down," he said.