Greenwich CT EMS Celebrates 20 Years

[N1Medic 69]

Twenty years and counting, medical service is still a 'gem'

By Kenneth Partridge, Staff Reporter

Once upon a time, before the creation of Greenwich Emergency Medical Service (GEMS), six separate ambulance companies served the town, providing care that lacked a centralized hub.

“It was not a very coordinated system,” said Charlee Tufts, executive director of GEMS. “I think people got great care as far as it would go, but it was basic life support.”

With the arrival of GEMS, which celebrated 20 years in business with a gala dinner last Saturday night, that all changed. According to Ms. Tufts, today’s ambulance teams bring the emergency room to patients, doing things on the scene yesterday’s responders couldn’t.

“The old system they used to refer to as ‘scoop and run’ —  it was the fast trip to the hospital,” she said. “The change to the profound, advanced life support that was now being performed in the field — it posed an interesting scenario the staff really responded well to.”

The idea for GEMS came about in 1984, when an advisory board was formed to study the issue and create a budget, which was presented to the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) the following year.

In May 1986, the RTM approved the budget, and service officially started July 1. Lynn Ridberg, a paramedic and trainer who’s been with GEMS since the beginning, remembers some of the challenges that faced the organization in its infancy, as it consolidated resources from six locations to one.

“We had to get together all the equipment we needed for the ambulances and train volunteers how to assist us in advanced life support, which they were not used to,” Ms. Ridberg said.

Furthermore, newly arriving paid staff and volunteers had to learn the town, which was tricky, since Greenwich is so spread out.

Ms. Ridberg remembers local residents being grateful to have enhanced services available in town, even if some people had no idea what they had been missing.

“I think it took some education for them to even realize what we were doing,” she said. “It was kind of enlightening that a lot of people in town didn’t realize the level of care they didn’t have before we came along.”

Jim Syrotiak, a GEMS paramedic and deputy director, was also there in the early days. He said people were shocked at how thorough ambulance crews were when they arrived at an emergency.

“Probably one of the biggest things I remember was the amount of time we were on scene — that was always questioned,” Mr. Syrotiak said. “Now, we’re taking a more elaborate history, we’re starting IVs, we’re giving medications in certain circumstances. We might even call the doctor at the hospital and maybe discuss more treatment.”

This kind of attention, which often took upwards of 20 minutes, was a far cry from the old days, when paramedics would blow in and out in five to 10 minutes.

The extra time, Ms. Tufts said, has paid off. In cases of cardiac arrest, the save rate used to be 0%, since patients would have to be transported to the hospital before any advanced treatment could be administered. With the GEMS system, that number has soared to 30 or 40%.

“When you figure that amount over 20 years, there are a number of people walking around whose hearts had stopped,” she said.

As more and more people have opted to make Greenwich their home, the number of calls has skyrocketed. Ms. Tufts estimates GEMS fielded 5,100 calls last year — 3,600 or 3,700 of which led to patients being transported to the hospital. In GEMS’ first year, there were about 1,000 calls.

While there are a lot of calls, few turn out to be false, and an estimated 55 to 65% of all transported patients end up requiring life support.

“There is not a lot of system abuse here,” Ms. Ridberg said. “If you go to a lot of big cities, people call for the common cold.”

Despite the large number of calls GEMS has responded to over the years, Ms. Tufts can still remember many of the individual lives her staff has saved.

“The saves that come to mind first and foremost are the young people,” she said, recalling a young man who was electrocuted but went on to graduate college, as well as an eight-year-old girl who survived a car accident and later became part of GEMS’ “Explorer” program for teens.

Ms. Ridberg remembers a woman who was shocked back to life after her heart stopped.

“I now run into her all the time,” she said. “She calls me her ‘Linny.’ She shares stuff about her children and her grandchildren.”

“In this line of work, you see a lot of death,” she added. “When you see something like that, it makes it worth it.”

Mr. Syrotiak has had similar experiences.

“There are the ones you remember and keep in your heart,” he said. “Sometimes people drop off a fruit bowl or flowers.”

“It’s astounding the number of letters [we receive],” Ms. Tufts added.

“The overwhelming feeling from our patients is not only the care and the professionalism [of the staff], but the compassion,” Ms. Tufts said. “The staff here at GEMS pays special attention to the patient and the family.”

With respect to the agency’s professionalism, Ms. Tufts says some of the credit belongs to the 29-member GEMS board, which is constantly approving expenditures for cutting-edge equipment.

“As soon as there is new technology in the field, and we feel it’s good, we can move on it,” she said.

GEMS gets most of its money from a contract with the town, but the agency also has 501©(3) nonprofit standing, allowing it to raise money for supplies, such as new ambulances.

“That’s one of the things I love about GEMS: We’re only as limited as our vision and ideas,” Ms. Tufts said.

In the future, she said, the GEMS vision could include the opening of more stations, as Greenwich’s population continues to climb. Currently, the agency operates out of four locations, the newest being King Street, which is only open Monday through Friday.

“I think the big issue right now is: Does [the King Street station] need to go to a 24-hour station?” Ms. Tufts said.

As GEMS explores this question, Ms. Tufts said, she’s confident the town will stand behind the agency, as it has done for two decades.

“From my perspective, and from the feedback from citizens, they can’t imagine the town without it,” she said. “GEMS is a young kid on the block, but we’ve definitely established our place.”

“In many ways, we’ve only just begun,” she added.