What do you think of the New St Francis (Pough.) ER

[pd125 0]

I was up in the new St. Francis ER last night and was surprised by space they have. Maybe the close up and tight spaces the old ER was at times trying. To move the cot use to be tight at times. The huge space they now have is impressive. My only problem is the tight turn with the temporary door you use to enter. And the equipment storage on the ambulance dock looks like a yard sale. What does the rest of the group think?

[NWFDMedic 58]

I was hoping for a few things that I haven't seen so far, but they may be coming when the new ER is complete.

The ambulance bay is horrible. Between the ramp on the east side, the ridiculously narrow docks, the pole on the west side, parking is atrocious. I went into the ER last night and BVAC was parked in the middle spot (straight and between the lines) and the only place I had room to park was in the east side spot putting the vehicle partially on the ramp. Also, the new concrete slab takes out the exhaust pipes on new Chevy vans in the west dock (fortunately I saw another crew do this before I did).

Restocking is even more difficult than before. You need to inconvenience a nurse to unlock just about everything, often several times. I'd love to see some of these facilities get an EMS Pyxis like Albany Med has. That way you know the EMS crew is taking 1 for 1, the correct patient or agency is getting billed, and you don't have to run around looking for someone with a key.

EMS should have an area to do paperwork that isn't the nurse's lounge or the desk in the ED. I hope this might be coming when the area is complete. The last thing I want to do is be in somoene's way or taking up the space for those trying to eat dinner.

The temporary door will not open if you are anywhere near it, which causes problems with the yard sale of equipment outside if there is an ambulance parked in the west dock. I would also imagine a bariatric stretcher would be quite a tight fit making the turn. This should also be rectified when the renovations are complete.

Security is now stationed in the back of the ER with a limited view of patients coming in and they are very difficult for EMS crews to access. Knowing the type of patients that come into the department, security should be accessible at the ambulance entrance because it's not always easy for one member of a two person crew to break away to get assistance. Twice on Tuesday night I witnessed crews coming in with combative patients and three security officers didn't even know they were there because they were at their post and could not see. (Yes, I did help the crews even though they were from another agency )

Overall though, it's a work in progress and it's definitely a 1000% upgrade over what they had.