PEORIA — The turf war between Advanced Medical Transport Inc. of Central Illinois and the Peoria Fire Department, dormant for many years, could be heating up again.
Nearly a decade ago, the two sparred over which entity would provide paramedic service and patient transport within the city limits. AMT reached an agreement with the city in which it was to pay $85,000, adjusted annually for inflation, for exclusive patient transport in Peoria. The agreement was modified in 2009 to allow the Fire Department to have three advanced life support engines — fire trucks with at least one paramedic and medical equipment.
Now the department wants a fourth ALS engine for House 19 on the city’s northwestern edge, which is near the new Louisville Slugger complex and The Shoppes at Grand Prairie.
The cost is about $5,000; which a city councilman says is a “no brainer” to spend. But others say not so fast: Peoria is fine with the services it has now.
Both Peoria Fire Chief Charles Lauss and Rick Waldron, president of Peoria Firefighters Union Local 50, said this is not an attempt to replace AMT.
























Fire Department paramedics














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Peoria Fire Department firefighter and paramedic Jay Simmons, left, and engineer Jeff Hascall check and restock medical equipment and supplies to start their day at the fire department's Central House in Peoria Friday. 
DAVID ZALAZNIK/JOURNAL STAR
“We have an agreement in place. … We cannot get into transport. There is a five-year notice that the Peoria Fire Department has to give to AMT to say we are getting into transport. We want to enhance our services and enhance what we are giving our community,” Lauss said.
Peoria firefighters can provide basic life support, which includes doing CPR and using automatic defibrillators. Advanced life support involves more advanced drugs, intubation tubes and IVs. At present, only the three paramedics on the ALS engines and AMT are at the ALS level.
The union and the chief think adding a fourth ALS engine is a benefit for everyone and actually strengthens the relationship with AMT.

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“We believe it is the best service possible for our citizens. It comes down to whether we get there first or AMT. As long as we get a medic there, that’s what counts,” said Waldron, who is a firefighter-paramedic.
But officials from AMT, a not-for-profit company that has provided ambulance service to the Peoria area for years, disagree. They say having too many paramedics can actually degrade services as there simply isn’t enough work to keep everyone proficient.
“Doing the best for the community isn’t doing everything, it’s doing the right things,” said Andrew Rand, AMT’s executive director.
He and others at AMT point to two letters written by the head of the Peoria Area Emergency Medical Services system last year addressing the so-called saturation of paramedics.
“Peoria currently has a paramedic saturation level of around 6.4 paramedics per 10,000 population, which is much higher than many other cities in the United States,” wrote Dr. Matthew Jackson last July in a letter to former Fire Chief Kent Tomblin. “It has been well studied and documented that increased paramedic saturation can actually lead to overall worse patient outcomes in key clinical situations such as cardiac arrest. The reasons for this primarily revolve around skills and knowledge degradation due to dilution of experience.”
Lauss disagrees and said the department’s 40-odd paramedics are well-trained.
“Our paramedics are getting all the training hours and the exposure that is required, for one thing. And even beyond that, a lot of these guys work for other agencies on their off days so they can practice some of those skills,” he said.
Councilman Jim Montelongo, who represents the area that would be served by the new ALS engine, is “absolutely” behind the idea.
“I think for us to provide, in this location, where we are going to have hundreds more people visiting, out at the ball park and at the new dome, there is going to be a need for more services,” he said. “For someone who is in need of these services, $5,000 in the big picture isn’t a lot of money.”
The request is pending before the PAEMS director and, after that, the City Council will likely take the idea up at a future meeting.
Andy Kravetz is the Journal Star public safety reporter. He can be reached at 686-3283 and akravetz@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @andykravetz.



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June 12, 2016

Mass Casualties After Orlando Nightclub Shooting This Morning--How Would Peoria Have Done?
A gunman opened fire in an Orlando nightclub early Sunday morning, killing about 20 people and wounding another 42 in what the FBI says is being investigated as an act of terrorism.
What if this mass casualty happened in Peoria this morning? How would our emergency response system have handled it?
Look at these numbers:
The Rockford Fire Department has 223 paramedics and transported over 18,000 people in their ambulances in 2014. The Peoria Fire Department (PFD) has 45 paramedics and transported NO ONE in 2014 because the PFD has NO ambulance. (Yes, you read that right.)
The Joliet Fire Department has 201 paramedics and transported 15,000 people in their ambulances in 2014. As above, the Peoria Fire Department has just 45 paramedics and transported no one in 2014.
Peoria does have the AMT medics and their transport vehicles. But would that have been enough for a mass casualty in Peoria like the one that occurred this morning in Orlando?
Since Peoria Fire is only allowed to give minimal paramedic care and cannot transport ANYONE because they have no ambulance, would we have had to have our CityLink bus drivers transport patients (like they have done in the past) to Peoria’s three emergency departments?
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January 4, 2018

Dear Everyone,

Happy New Year. It is cold in Peoria. Very cold. Polar vortex and global warming combining to make the midwest very cold.

Great news regarding the Peoria Fire Deparment--

This full moon lighting up the Illinois River and Peoria tonight on the first day of 2018 is the largest and brightest – supermoon you have ever seen.

But even bigger news than the supermoon is that today the PFD Rescue 1 Engine in downtown Peoria is offering independent Advanced Life Support for the first time ever. The Firefighter Paramedics will now be able to respond to a 911 call and offer the people of Peoria Basic Life Support and Advanced Life Support even when the AMT Paramedics are not on scene. 


Engine 3 on Armstrong in Peoria will be doing the same starting today also. 

John Carroll, MD
www.peoriasmedicalmafia.blogspot.com
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 January 29, 2018
Peoria Fire Department--Advanced Life Support
January 29, 2018

I was at a location the other night and a person suddenly passed out. PFD E3 arrived in a matter of minutes and began evaluating the patient. AMT arrived about 4 minutes later. Both teams of medics worked together very well. E3 just became ALS-First Response on January 1.
Nothing I have to say in this post has anything to do with the providers from AMT or the PFD who are working the streets in real time. The EMTs' assessment of the patient when first evaluated and the evolution of the patients' course with their interventions was very important for me as I evaluated the patient upon arrival in the ER.
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John Carroll---Forum Article, PJS--January 27, 2018
Let Peoria firefighters provide advanced life support
On Jan. 1, Peoria Fire Rescue 1 on Monroe and Engine 3 on Armstrong became Advanced Life Support First Response.
They join three other advanced life support engines in Peoria — Engine 12, Engine 20 and Engine 4. This is the first time Peoria firefighter-paramedics from Rescue 1 and Engine 3 have ever been able to provide independent advanced life support when they arrive at a 911 call. Sick and injured patients no longer need to wait precious minutes for Advanced Medical Transport (AMT) to arrive.
Why did our local project medical director, Matt Jackson, M.D., allow these two Peoria fire engines to upgrade to Advanced Life Support First Response now? During much of the last two years, Dr. Jackson had opposed any PFD engine upgrade from basic life support to advanced life support.
In August 2017 Illinois House Bill 1952 was signed into law by Gov. Bruce Rauner. It stated that the “ambulance assistance provider shall be authorized to function at the highest level of EMT license … held by any person staffing the ambulance assistance vehicle.” This means that if there is a Peoria fire paramedic on a basic life support engine, and if Dr. Jackson approves, this paramedic can now provide advanced life support immediately upon arriving at the scene of a 911 call.
There were more than 19,000 medical 911 calls last year in Peoria. Peoria Fire has enough paramedics to staff all 12 engines. This law should help level the playing field in Peoria between AMT, which is supported by the powerful medical and business communities, and the shackled Peoria Fire Department, which wants to provide advanced life support for all the people of Peoria.
This two-decade-long EMS saga in Peoria shows how medicine, politics and money intersect at a dangerous point. The project medical director in Peoria should keep money and politics out of the equation and allow all of the remaining Peoria fire engines that are basic life support to become advanced life support.
John A. Carroll is a medical doctor. He lives in West Peoria.
---------------
Now the following paragraphs will be a "deeper dive" into the above article, and I will start out with this quote from Councilman Jim Ardis from the PJS in 2002--
Councilman Jim Ardis: ”If we want to have a highly trained fire and medical department in the city, there is nothing that AMT can do to prevent us from doing so.” I don’t think that anyone can make the argument that anybody would not want the best-trained people to be there for them all the time in case of an emergency. Why would you not want that?”
1. Two Engines, Rescue 1 and E3 just became ALS for the first time.
Over the last two years, there have been frequent discussions at the City Council, AMT, PAEMS, and the Peoria Fire Department. The PFD wanted to upgrade Engine 19 from BLS to ALS. The PFD has firefighter-paramedics at the station now who are not able to provide paramedic skills when they arrive at a 911 call before AMT arrives. But Engine 19 was denied their upgrade. E19 on the northwest side of Peoria is still BLS.
Dr. Jackson made a power point presentation to the City Council in 2017 and wrote several letters to the City Council stating that he saw no reason for the PFD to upgrade ANY Engine in Peoria to ALS.
It is amazing there was no media coverage when the PFD was allowed to upgrade two Engines on January 1. The silence in Peoria over this upgrade is incredible but understandable for the powers who control EMS in Peoria.
Most of Peoria has no idea that the PFD is mainly BLS. Most people have no idea that these two stations just became ALS. Most people have no idea that Dr. Jackson gave his approval for these two stations to become paramedics. Most people think that the PFD paramedics can function as paramedics...but the truth is that today when 911 is called, most PFD paramedics on duty cannot offer independent life support. And I will explain why.
We have 12 Fire Stations in Peoria but only 5 of them are ALS--12, 20, 4, 1, and 3. However, all 12 Engines could be ALS because we have 55 PFD Medics. I will come back to this in a second.
And I want to emphasize that AMT is the only provider in Peoria who can transport the patient. AMT is supported by the titans of Peoria--Peoria's three hospitals, influential businesses, and by many of our politicians. AMT's revenues are 23 million dollars transporting patients around the state of Illinois. That is where the money is. I want to make it clear that during the last two years the PFD was not asking to transport anyone. The PFD does not own an ambulance.
2. Bill 1952
What did Bill 1952 really mean?
The idea for the creation of this bill came from Peoria but was sponsored by representatives from different parts of Illinois...specifically NOT by Peoria's representatives. The feeling is that our sponsors representing Peoria could shy away from supporting Bill 1952 due to the hot politics in Peoria regarding EMS.
What do I mean by hot politics? How can an issue of prehospital care in Peoria be a hot topic? The answer is AMT wants to remain the only transport/ALS business in Peoria like it has been for the past 25 years. And when AMT is supported by Peoria's bosses, the influential business and medical community in Peoria, beware if you rock the boat. There is a lot of money involved. And when AMT and PAEMS, which is located at OSF, put obstacles in the way of the firemen, politicians are simply afraid of AMT and OSF and the business community. The politicians want their support and their money. Big businesses stick together. OSF supports AMT. In other words, our local politicians don't want to make AMT and OSF upset with them.
Well, this bill was written to help Peoria Fire Fighters give advanced life support in Peoria.
Having said that, Bill 1952 passed unanimously except for Ryan Spain who voted "present" due to several family members being on the Board of Directors at AMT. In other words, all of the state representatives voted that they believed that paramedics on a basic engine anywhere in the state of Illinois should be able to offer ALS at the medical 911 call. This, of course, makes sense. The bill was signed into law in August by Gov. Rauner. Every representative in the state of Illinois voted "yes" except for Ryan Spain.
I want to make clear that R1 and E3 in Peoria did not become ALS under this new law from Bill 1952. I happen to believe they were "gifts" to the PFD by the project medical director. Why do I call them gifts? I think that since Bill 1952 now gives all the Peoria Fire Engines ability to be ALS if the PMD signs off. Unfortunately, I believe that the PMD has plenty of pressure put on him to keep the PFD as "basic" as possible.
However, did you know attempts were made in Springfield to stop Peoria from being covered by Bill 1952? Oh, yes. There is a lobbyist in Springfield named Molly Rockford who was hired by the Illinois College of Emergency Physicians (ICEP) and represented ICEP. She lobbied that Bill 1952 should pass for the entire State of Illinois...except for Peoria. Sounds incredible, doesn't it? Why would she lobby for this? Why would ICEP not want Peoria included where the PFD paramedics would not be allowed to provide advanced life support at the scene? I don't know for sure. But I do know that George Hevesy, who still works at OSF and is the President of the Corporate Board of AMT, was the President of ICEP years ago and is a councilor on the Board of ICEP now. (Another OSF physician holds a similar position on the ICEP Board.) In other words, ICEP lobbying to exclude Peoria from Bill 1952, MAY lead right back here to Peoria.
3. So, this brings up the next question: I wonder what the PFD needed to do to swap this time with AMT and PAEMS to give more Peorians advanced care.
Why do I say swap? Because it is a matter of politics and money and making deals in Peoria. This discussion has never been about providing improved patient care.
Right now our politicians in Washington, DC are bartering for the lives and futures of about 2 million immigrants under DACA and the Dreamer's children versus a 25 billion dollar wall and enhanced border security. In DC they are bartering 2 million lives for a 25 billion dollar wall to be built along the Mexican-US border. That is how politicians work.
So what does this have to do with Peoria? I will tell you.
In 1996, the PFD wanted to upgrade their service from BLS to Intermediate Life Support for the people of Peoria. But the PFD didn't quite make it. In fact, the headline of an article in the Journal Star from May 1, 1996 stated:
“Ambulance Plan Abandoned–Fire Department to Add Defibrillation Program”.
The PFD met resistance in 1996 from AMT's CEO Andrew Rand and from George Hevesy, MD who was PMD and receiving a salary from AMT and from OSF.
Rand, of course, did not want the PFD to upgrade.
Rand stated that the PFD should spray the "wet stuff on the red stuff" and stay out of EMS. Dr. Hevesy, his sidekick, explained to the City Council during those years that there would be "duplication of services" if the PFD upgraded.
The PFD finally backed down to the powers that be but were able to do something very incredible for the people of Peoria. The PFD stated that if you give us the ability to defibrillate patients we will not seek to upgrade. This was truly amazing.
So the trade was electricity to save lives for PFD BLS engines that would not upgrade to ALS.
When a person's heart stops suddenly and they are in cardiac arrest, their heart is usually beating too fast or quivering and needs to be shocked to start beating again effectively. And for each one minute the heart is not shocked, the chances of recovery go down by 10%. So if the person has a witnessed arrest and five minutes go by before the first shock, the chances of that person coming back are down 50%.
Defibrillation with portable monitors has been done since the 60s. It is the only proven weapon to save people from out of hospital cardiac arrests.
In 1996, defibrillation, or shocking the patient, was standard of care around the developed world even for Basic Engines like all 12 of the PFD Engines. But amazingly the PFD in Peoria was not using the best technique to save lives in out of hospital cardiac arrests--electricity.
AMT WAS using electricity. Why wasn't the PFD? I was a resident physician at OSF in the early 80's and people were shocked frequently in-hospital and out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. It was called "standard of care".
How many people died in Peoria as outpatients prior to 1996 because they were not shocked in time by the earliest arriving EMT which was usually the PFD?
Our Basic PFD, of course, should have been shocking people back to life..but they weren't. Where was Dr. Hevesy? Did he insist to the City Council that the PFD as BLS providers use defibrillators? If he did, I am not aware of it.
Why did our PFD have to barter to shock people in 1996? Because that is how it works in Peoria. I wonder what would have happened if the PFD still wanted to upgrade? Would Hevesy and Rand have told the PFD that they would remain as they were--BLS without the paddles to shock the patient?
4. What happened in the 2000's?
Early in the 2000s, after the death of a man at a restaurant in Peoria where the firefighters were first on the scene but unable to use ALS skills, Rick Miller was the PMD. Behind the scenes, Miller changed the protocol, which stated that the PFD paramedics could use their skills only when the AMT paramedics arrived. This was never published in the newspaper or in the public media in Peoria-- just like we have today with R1 and E3.
And as the years went by in the 2000s, even though I was told it was a dead issue at the City Council meetings by someone who was high up in the ranks, three stations were able to upgrade--Engines 12, 20, and Engine 4. And it took until 2013 for this to happen. Please remember, that even though these three Engines became ALS, they did not have an ambulance and transport was not a possibility. And it still isn't today in 2018 for the PFD. Transport is where the money is for AMT and they don't want to lose it.
---------
Summary--
Peoria EMS has been fraught with problems for years. In my opinion, the PFD has been obstructed for years in their battle to provide ALS for the people of Peoria.
Last year the PFD voices were silenced for fear of a significant fine or imprisonment. Peorians as a whole are quiet also because they don't want to lose their jobs, their health insurance, and their seat at the Peoria Country Club. And well-meaning citizens have been threatened with possible lawsuits if they dissent too much. And as I said before, THE PFD HAS BEEN THREATENED WITH FINES AND JAIL TIME IF THEY SAY TOO MUCH.
In my opinion, it has never been about patient care in Peoria. It is about money.
People in Peoria don't know that their tax dollars are being wasted. The PFD medics make 2.5% more than a non-medic. And if these medics are not allowed to use their skills for the 911 patient, what is all of this about?
So what needs to happen?
With the recent passage of Bill 1952 into law, the next step should be that the PMD gives his approval for the remaining 7 BLS stations to become ALS. They would need a four thousand dollar box filled with ALS material on their Engine to function as independent paramedics--just as AMT has done for the past 25 years.
I think there has been a concerted effort to keep the PFD from upgrading during the last 22 years. Bill 1952 is law and can be used by the Basic PFD Engines if Matt Jackson, MD, the current Project Medical Director, agrees. Dr. Jackson just signed off on R1 and E3 to become ALS, which goes against what he has been saying and writing during the last two years.
For the Peoria neighborhood not covered by an ALS Engine, it will take a critical mass of people to influence their City Council Members to advocate for the Engine upgrade.
Clearly, the people who have controlled EMS in Peoria for a quarter of a century need to be replaced now. A fire chief of a very large city in Illinois told me years ago regarding EMS: "You have a very unfortunate situation in Peoria." And we still do.
"These titans stick together in the way that many titans do, not because they share some special affection or particular philosophy but because each sees in the others’ stature an affirmation of his own." (NYTimes)

John A. Carroll, MD
January 29, 2018
Peoria

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January 3, 2019

Dear Everyone,

I submitted a Spotlight article to the Journal Star which was published on December 1, 2018.

Here is the article--

Lack of Transparency for AMT

This spring in Peoria a person suffered a cardiac arrest. Fortunately, there was a good outcome for the patient, and local media reported on this success story.
On June 19, I filed a Freedom of Information request to the City of Peoria for response times of the Peoria Fire Department and Advanced Medical Transport to this incident. The city answered my FOIA and included the arrival time of Engine 19 to this cardiac arrest. However, written in red ink on the city’s response was a note for me to contact AMT to obtain AMT’s response time.
So I called AMT and asked for their response time to this incident. AMT told me that they would not give me their response time.
I followed up with an email to the Public Access Counselor, who is an Assistant Attorney General in Illinois. I explained that AMT is contracted by the city to be the exclusive provider of ambulance transport in Peoria. Therefore, the city needs to release AMT’s response times.
In response to my email, on July 5 the Assistant Attorney General emailed the City and cited a previous request, similar to mine, by another person in 2017. The Assistant Attorney General determined in 2017 that “the records in possession of AMT describing response times to incidents involving the fire department (the city) are the public records of the fire department (the city) pursuant to FOIA and therefore the fire department (the city) must obtain these records from AMT when requested in a FOIA request.” (The city of Peoria never complied with the 2017 request.)
In mid-July, the city’s attorney answered the above email from the Assistant Attorney General stating, “we do not have the records of AMT in our possession and cannot provide such.” The city attorney continued, “we do not have any better access to those records than the requester (John Carroll) does.”
It is now mid-November and the city has not provided me with AMT’s response time that I requested in June. It appears that the city has once again ignored the advice of the Attorney General of the state of Illinois regarding complying with FOIA requests.
In hopes of balancing the budget, the city recently announced that approximately 20 firefighter positions will be eliminated and proposed taking Rescue 1 and Rescue 2 out of commission and consolidate two South Peoria fire stations. The PFD responds to nearly 20,000 EMS calls annually. With these cuts, projected response times are longer.
Only five of the current 12 PFD stations are Advanced Life Support. Due to the lack of transparency from the city and AMT regarding AMT’s response times, and the anticipated changes mentioned above, I believe it is vital for all of the PFD stations to be upgraded to Advanced Life Support so all PFD paramedics can function as paramedics when emergencies occur.
John A. Carroll is a Peoria physician. He lives in West Peoria.
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Here is an interesting article in the Peoria Journal Star today (January 3, 2019)--
A trio of Peoria Fire Department engine companies is acquiring advanced life-support first-response capability.
Those companies will join five others in the city that offer those services, according to a Fire Department news release issued Wednesday.
Unlike basic life-support engine companies, the eight upgraded ones can provide patients with expanded treatment options before they are transported to a hospital.
At least one system-certified paramedic staffs those companies at all times.
The expansion covers engine companies located at 3316 N. Wisconsin Ave., 2105 W. Northmoor Road and 5719 N. Frostwood Parkway, the release stated. The city has 12 fire stations.
Advanced Medical Transport of Central Illinois also offers similar life-support coverage. The first-response program allows Fire Department paramedics to intervene in critical situations pending arrival of a transport unit from AMT.
Situations that involve multiple patients also might warrant advanced life-support intervention.
“This ability gives the patient the best chance of surviving a major medical event,” the Fire Department release stated.
A pilot program launched last year expanded by two the number of engine companies that offer advanced life support.
Peoria Area Emergency Medical Services is collaborating with the Fire Department and AMT in the endeavor.
The new advanced life-support engine companies join others located at 505 NE Monroe St., 1204 W. Armstrong Ave., 2711 SW Jefferson Ave., 3005 NE Adams St. and 2020 W. Wilhelm Road.
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So as of yesterday, January 2, 2019, there are eight PFD stations that are Advanced Life Support. Only four more to go.

Engine 19 on Frostwood was one of the three upgraded to Advanced Life Support yesterday. And this was after the last two years with the Project Medical Director telling the City Council that there was no reason for Engine 19 to upgrade. 
Happy New Year!

John A. Carroll, MD
www.haitianhearts.org

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January, 2019

Facebook Video—Jan. 2019


At the end of December, I sent a FOIA request to the City of Peoria for Response times of the PFD and AMT to a 911 call that occurred on Christmas Day. I also asked for an audio CD of the same 911 call. 


During the last several days, I have received a redacted version of the response time of the PFD but did not receive any of AMT’s times. I also received a CD of the audio from dispatch. The audio was composed of five brief segments of the audio dispatch of this 911 call. With the material that I received, it is impossible for me to know the sequence in time of these conversations. I ASSUME TRACK 1 CONVERSATION OCCURRED BEFORE TRACK 5, BUT I DO NOT KNOW FOR SURE.


I will tell you about the audio call and include details re the PFD response times to this 911 call. AS I SAID, I did not get AMT’s times and so I sent an e mail to AMT requesting their times. I have not heard back from AMT.  


To be honest the audio was hard to listen to.


The 911 caller called at a specific time which I will call time zero. He stated his mother was having trouble. After a brief explanation, he put his mother on the phone with dispatch. She was obviously struggling to get her breath but she was coherent as she spoke with dispatch. 


The dispatcher quickly asked the lady if she was short of breath and the lady replied yes. The dispatcher assured the lady that an ambulance WOULD BE ON THE WAY. The lady thanked Dispatch.

  
According to the records I received, in about 4-5 minutes PFD Engine 10 arrived on scene. Engine 10 was BLS on Christmas Day but has since been upgraded to ALS.  So even if there was a PFD Paramedic on Engine 10 for this lady on Christmas Day, he or she could not have acted as a paramedic at this scene response since AMT was not there. That is how the system is set up. ```And that means that the PFD was not even able to start an IV on this lady who was short of breath. An IV would have been started immediately on the same patient if an ALS Engine had arrived to care for this lady.


During the first 26 minutes of this call a number of discussions took place. I will comment later on this 26 minute figure. To summarize the audio segments that I received from Dispatch, it appeared that the following took place as the call evolved:


The PFD-E10 knew they were treating a very sick woman. E10 asked multiple times where AMT was. E10 asked for mutual aid. As they evaluated the patient, E10 knew the patient was an ALS call and that she would need to be transported to one of our local hospitals. As you may know, AMT is the only transport service in Peoria. The PFD does not own an ambulance and couldn’t transport this woman.

  
At one point early on during this 26 minute segment, one of the dispatchers stated that AMT was 15 minutes away. 


At another point E10 asked again when AMT was going to arrive. Dispatch replied that he did not know how far away AMT was and that AMT must have been further away than he initially expected because AMT was still not on scene. Dispatch stated that he would send another AMT ambulance from one of the hospitals.


From the records I was sent from the City, it appears that ALS was at the patient’s side 26 minutes after the initial call regarding this patient. And from the way I read the records, I am assuming this would have been the EARLIEST TIME that AMT would have been with the patient. If I am wrong about this figure, I would hope AMT would let me know.


What happened at that point is not known because no further audio were sent to me. I spoke to a friend of mine who lives in the neighborhood and he told me that this lady passed away. I do not know when she died or the medical reason for death.  I don’t know what ALS care was given at the scene. I don’t know when she was transported to the hospital.


However, I do know the following:


I know that a Peoria lady died on Christmas Day after she and her family requested an ambulance. 

I know that E10 arrived at her house in 4-5 minutes. 

I know that E10 did their very best providing the highest level of care they were allowed to provide.  E10 persisted in asking for aid. During their evaluation of this lady, E10 knew she needed ALS care and transport and kept asking Dispatch where AMT was.

And I know from the records from the City of Peoria that this unfortunate lady did not receive ALS until 26 minutes into this scene response. 

I also know that a week or so later E10 plus two other Engines in Peoria were upgraded to ALS. So this begs the question: Would this lady have lived if she were given immediate ALS and quicker transport? Not necessarily. But I think we can say for sure that she did not get the quickest most advanced medical care that Peoria has to offer. 

Over the years in Peoria, there have been many other similar calls as this one where there was NOT an optimal outcome.  The PFD has been first on scene many times over the past 25 years but unable to provide ALS even if they had a PFD Paramedic on the engine. 

About 20,000 911 calls were made last year in Peoria. This call is just one of them. All of these calls are important for the people making the calls.

Policies discussed in board rooms, hallways, city council at the local level, and by politicians and lobbyists in Springfield at the State level, affect the health of more than 100 K people in Peoria in both good and bad ways.  

I think this lady’s care was a direct result of the policies and decisions made by a connected series of groups which include Peoria’s medical community, the business community, and the political community. In this nexus of activity, providing the best prehospital care for this woman did not occur.  

We can do better than this. Peoria has the talent and capacity to do better. All we are lacking is the will. 

————