Fit and Well Idaho: National EMS Week highlights the importance of teamwork

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — National EMS Week is coming to close, but before it does, this week’s Fit and Well Idaho report highlights the emergency services professionals in our area.

The theme of this year’s National EMS Week, is where emergency care begins, which is bringing awareness to the EMT’s and paramedics that bring care to you, which could be on the side of the road, or at your home.

At St. Luke’s, every ambulance and even Air St. Luke’s acts as an ICU and ER room, and has everything in it that would be in the actual hospital, such as blood products, ventilators, and chest tubes, or intubation.

Chad Smith, who is a flight paramedic and field supervisor with Air St. Luke’s says all of the emergency services in the area act as a team to save someone’s life.

“All the little tiny towns, they have QRU’s, which have volunteer EMT’s on them, all of the fire departments across the valley, we all work together as a team, to provide this essential care and it starts with the very basic level, with them to the ambulance and maybe even up to the helicopter depending on what is needed,” said Smith.

In the helicopter, they can reach a level 2 trauma hospital, which is either in Boise or Idaho Falls in 45 minutes, and they can reach a level 1 trauma hospital in Utah in a little over an hour.

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