A St. Mary’s County emergency services task force report has recommended more oversight, better coordination and the hiring of an EMS manager and assistant manager.
The recommendations are contained in a 58-page report presented Tuesday to the St. Mary’s County Commissioners. The report recommendations were unanimous according to State of Maryland EMS Medical Director Dr. Richard Alcorta, who led the 17-month process that was called SWOT – identifying Strengths, Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats. The task force consisted of representatives of 21 organizations, including seven rescue squads and the St. Mary’s Advanced Life Support. Maryland State Police, St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Department and MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital also participated.
The recommendations fall into three goal categories:
1. Promote the longevity of the volunteer EMS system;
2. Develop a plan to bring BLS (Basic Life Support) performance metrics in line with national standards, and
3. Develop a plan to bring ALS (Advanced Life Support) performance metrics in line with national standards.
Dr. Alcorta told the commissioners that dispatchers often don’t know where emergency vehicles are. He said they could be close to where there is a need to respond but the dispatchers are frustrated that they don’t know the location. “They have to guess where the operators are,” he said. One task force recommendation is that each emergency vehicle have an Automatic Vehicle Locator (AVL) system similar to those now used by police units.
He said decisions are based on individual un
