EMS responds to accident, assault incidents
Sep 20, 2018 | 630 views | 0 0 comments | 7 7 recommendations | email to a friend | print
Thursday, Sept. 13 was an exceptionally busy day for Grand County Emergency Medical Services. With eight calls that day, “we were able to do it but it certainly was tight. Our crews were stretched really thin,” said EMS Director Andy Smith. “We had three ambulances all out at the same time for several hours in the evening.”

First, an assault in Moab required medical attention at 1 p.m. Then EMS got paged to a vehicle accident. An individual in Spanish Valley called with chest pain, and then a vehicle accident on Highway 191 injured five in northern San Juan County. “That took a lot of resources and a lot of time,” Smith said.

EMTs also took care of a child who was hit by a car while crossing the street on his bicycle. Smith said the child was transported to Moab Regional Hospital but was in stable condition. “He was doing really well … crews did transfer him to MRH,” Smith said. EMS had another medical call in Moab and finally had to transfer two patients to other medical facilities, one via air from Canyonlands Field Airport and one to St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction.

The next day the department had six calls, Smith reported. “It’s not uncommon of us in September specifically to have seven to ten calls per day,” Smith said. In fact, on Sept. 6, Sept. 7 and Sept. 10, EMS had seven calls a day. “The fall gets busier.”

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