Leon County Emergency Medical Services
Encyclopedia
Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
beginning service January 1, 2004. LCEMS provides emergency medical services
Emergency medical services
Emergency medical services are a type of emergency service dedicated to providing out-of-hospital acute medical care and/or transport to definitive care, to patients with illnesses and injuries which the patient, or the medical practitioner, believes constitutes a medical emergency...
to 657 square miles (1,701.6 km²) and all citizens and visitors of Leon County
Leon County, Florida
Leon County is a county located in the state of Florida, named after the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. At the 2010 Census, the population was 275,487. The county seat of Leon County is Tallahassee which also serves as the state capital. The county seat is home to two of Florida's major...
regardless of social economic status. Leon County EMS is part of a comprehensive system operating through a cooperative agreement between the City of Tallahassee and Leon County.
Command
- ChiefFire chiefFire Chief is a top executive rank or commanding officer in a fire department, either elected or appointed...
of Emergency Medical Services - 1 - Medical directorMedical directorAs laboratory director,means that you are responsible for the overall operation and administration of the laboratory, including the employment of competentqualified personnel. Even though you have the option to delegate some...
- 1 - Deputy Chief of Operations
- 1 - Deputy Chief of Administration
- 1 - MajorMajorMajor is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
of training and quality assurance - 6 - CaptainsFire captainCaptain is a rank in various fire services.In most American and Canadian fire services, a captain ranks above a lieutenant and below a Battalion Chief. This varies, though, between departments – in the Boston Fire Department, the captain is the officer in overall charge of a fire company...
as shift supervisors, Special Ops, and Public Education - 4 - LieutenantLieutenantA lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
s as EMS controllers - 3 - Administrative assistants
- 2 - Supply technicians
- 1 - Billing coordinator
- 87 - field personnel including paramedicParamedicA paramedic is a healthcare professional that works in emergency medical situations. Paramedics provide advanced levels of care for medical emergencies and trauma. The majority of paramedics are based in the field in ambulances, emergency response vehicles, or in specialist mobile units such as...
s, emergency medical technicianEmergency medical technicianEmergency Medical Technician or Ambulance Technician are terms used in some countries to denote a healthcare provider of emergency medical services...
s, and FTO's (sergeants)
LCEMS Facility
The Leon County Emergency Medical Services facility is located at Miccosukee Road and Blair Stone Road located between Tallahassee's two hospitals, Capital Regional Medical CenterCapital Regional Medical Center
Capital Regional Medical Center is a hospital located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States.- History :Originally Capital Medical Center, the hospital opened in September of 1979 and was owned by General Care Corporation. In September of 1980, Hospital Corporation of America purchased GCC and the...
and Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare
Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare is a private, not-for-profit community health care system that includes a 770-bed acute care hospital located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States...
. It is currently co-located with Leon County Public Works.
System response
All 9-1-19-1-1
9-1-1 is the emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan .It is one of eight N11 codes.The use of this number is for emergency circumstances only, and to use it for any other purpose can be a crime.-History:In the earliest days of telephone technology, prior to the...
calls are received at the Leon County Sheriff's Office dispatch center which operates as the center for all EMS systems using the Computerized Medical Priority Dispatch Protocol. That call is triage
Triage
Triage or ) is the process of determining the priority of patients' treatments based on the severity of their condition. This rations patient treatment efficiently when resources are insufficient for all to be treated immediately. The term comes from the French verb trier, meaning to separate,...
d for appropriate response and is handled by the EMS Controller, who dispatches the appropriate means of transport determined. EMS dispatcher
Dispatcher
Dispatchers are communications personnel responsible for receiving and transmitting pure and reliable messages, tracking vehicles and equipment, and recording other important information...
s also keep ambulances informed as they drive to the scene.
Emergency vehicles
- 1 - Chevy Suburban
- 3 - Ford ExpeditionFord ExpeditionThe Ford Expedition is a full-size SUV built by the Ford Motor Company. Introduced in 1997 as a replacement to the Ford Bronco, it was previously slotted between the smaller Ford Explorer and the larger Ford Excursion, but as of the 2005 model year, it is Ford's largest and last truck-based,...
s - 2 - Type III "Cart style" MERV's (Medical Emergency Response Vehicles) that are used at public events, games and parades.
- 20 - Type I ambulanceAmbulanceAn ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...
s, most manufactured by Frazer, Ltd of Houston, TexasHouston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
are equipped with 12 lead EKG capabilities.
Operation of vehicles
- LCEMS utilizes 3 ambulances deployed at Station 12 in ChairesChaires, FloridaChaires is an unincorporated community located just east of Tallahassee in Leon County, Florida. It is near the intersection of Chaires Cross Road and Capitola Road, northeast of Lake Lafayette and the Edwards Wildlife Area.-Geography:...
, Station 13 in WoodvilleWoodville, FloridaWoodville is a census-designated place in Leon County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,006 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Tallahassee, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Woodville is located at ....
, and Station 14 in Fort BradenFort Braden, FloridaFort Braden is an unincorporated community in western Leon County, Florida, United States.- History :On December 3, 1839 Fort Braden was established as a military fort during the Second Seminole War. It was located on the Ochlockonee River eighteen miles southwest of Tallahassee. Fort Braden was...
24 hours a day, 7 days a week. - Between 7 and 10 ambulances are deployed system-wide with 10 in operation during peak times in the both unincorporated and incorporated areas of Leon County.
- Between 4 to 8 ambulances are deployed in the incorporated area on 12-hour shifts using a peak-load staffing and flexible deployment concept. This allows for an increased number of ambulances during times when the need for services is higher and decreased staffing during historically low activity.
Special Operations Unit
The primary mission of Leon County EMS Special Operations Unit is to provide advanced Mass Casualty Incident Management and Medical Care Capabilities to victims of natural or man made disasterDisaster
A disaster is a natural or man-made hazard that has come to fruition, resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment...
s. Most recently, members of the Special Operations Unit have been deployed to Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
following Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
and to South Florida following the devastating 2005 Atlantic hurricane season
2005 Atlantic hurricane season
The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season in recorded history, repeatedly shattering numerous records. The impact of the season was widespread and ruinous with an estimated 3,913 deaths and record damage of about $159.2 billion...
there.