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B00.00ebe emergency staff recognizes
Emergency Medical Services We..€ 1,:
May is National Trauma Awareness month desig-
nated to promote trauma prevention. Each year the
American Trauma Society members, institutions and
divisions sponsor varied activities throughout the
United States, aiding in the fight to reduce trauma.
The staff at Beebe Medical Center's Emergency
Services celebrated National Medical Emergency
Services Week, May 18-24, to honor the outstanding
efforts provided by Emergency Medical Service
(EMS) in Sussex County. Local restaurants showed
their support by generously donating food throughout
the week, in appreciation for the work and time the
EMS personnel give to the community.
According to the Office of Paramedic Administra-
tion, Delaware Trauma System Planning Group,
injury continues to be the leading cause of death and
permanent disability in Delawareans between the
ages of 11 and 44.
Beebe Medical Center, along with the Division of
Public Health and the Office of Paramedic Adminis-
tration is committed to reducing death and disability
related to injury in Delaware.
The Delaware Trauma Systems Planning Group
(DTSPG), of which Beebe Medical Center is a mem-
ber, was formed to assist the Division in achieving
this goal, and will consider national standards, such
as those set forth by the American College of Sur-
geons, in developing all components for the
Delaware Trauma System Plan.
Volunteer ambulance, F, MS teams and paramedics
respond to medical emergencies including sudden
collapse, breathing difficulty, sudden onset of chest
pain, major automobile accidents, burns, severe
bleeding, emergency births or in any other ease of
serious injury.
According to the Sussex County Emergency Med-
ical Services, last year, Sussex County paramedics
transported approximately 6,700 persons to ER facil-
ities, responded to 11,000 calls and 2,200 persons,
about one third of the total, were transported to Beebe
Medical Center for emergency care. The key to the
success of the base command is for physicians to
have pre-hospital direction of patient care by radio en
route to Beebe.
The Emergency Medical Services and Paramedics
of Sussex County work with 21 volunteer fire/rescue
EMS agencies in Sussex County and the Delaware
State Aviation Division to provide emergency care to
its citizens. The paramedics are located at five inde-
pendent stations throughout the county to maximize
response to all locations. These stations, in Lincoln,
Blades, Stockley Center, Lewes and Millville, will
take patients to the nearest hospital. In severe trauma
cases, patients may be flown by Delaware State
Police helicopters to a trauma center.
Beebe Medical Center's Department of Emergency
Services was the first hospital in Delaware to fulfill
the criteria for a base station medical command so
that paramedics can obtain critical medical direction
while treating patients in the field. This communica-
tion link between the hospital emergency department
and paramedics in the field is vital to maintain consis-
tency and quality of care.
Patients can rest assured that when paramedics are
administering treatment in the field, prior to being
transported to Beebe, all direction for treatment will
follow strict protocol. This provides a level of conti-
nuity that can only be achieved through systematic,
established programs such as the medical base com-
mand station designation.
f
The Joint Commission on Accreditation
of Healthcare Organizations
is pleased
to announce that
Delaware Home Health Care, Inc.
has been awarded
Accreditation Status
Long Neck
Professional Center
Millsboro, DE
302.945-7580
Rehoboth Service Center
Rehoboth, DE
302.227.2201
Milford Plaza
Milford, DE
302-422.2727
CAPE GAZETI, Friday, May 23 - May 29, 1997 - 33
00eep Disorders
Imagine gauges, adhesive patches, and wires all
over your body connected to a battery of monitoring
machines. A technician readies a notepad, switches
on a video camera--and you're instructed to sleep!
It's no nightmare, but business as usual for Beebe
Medical Center's Sleep Disorders Center.
"The people we see have no problem falling asleep
here," says medical director Michael A. lvatore,
M.D. "The lab is for people with excessive sleepiness
during tle day--people who fall asleep anywhere,
instantly and deeply."
Chronic sleepiness is the result of a sleep disorder.
Sleep apnea actually halts breathing. Periodic limb
movements, with its uncontrollable jerks and twitches,
partially wakens a sleeper many times each night.
Most sufferers are not even aware of the repeated
interruptions that prevent meaningful, restful sleep.
Persons with narcolepsy, a neurological illness, fall
asleep many times during the day, whatever their
level of activity or concentration.
Sleep disorders have a wide impact beyond personal
enjoyment of life and competency in the work place,
such as when sleep-deprived individuals operate cars
and machinery.
For more information about excessive daytime sleepi-
ness, consult your physician or call the Sleep Disorders
Center at Beebe Medical Center at 645-3186 and
ask for our free Sleep Disorders brochure.
B
Medical
Sleep
Disorders
Center
424 Savannah Rd., Lewes, DE
