Hanover County Fire/EMS will receive a 2010 National Association of Counties’ (NACo) Achievement Award for a program that has improved response times for EMS calls by more than 8 percent.

The same program also was named “Best in Category” by the national association, which represents more than 3,000 counties.

The program enables Hanover’s EMS paramedics to reach stricken patients more quickly by using well-deployed Quick Response Vehicles (QRV).
Changes in how QRV and other EMS units are deployed have increased efficiency without additional personnel or funding.

Working with the Department of Emergency Communications and the Statistical Sciences Department at Virginia Commonwealth University, Fire/EMS analyzed several years of historical call data and used those results to redeploy units.

Units are now deployed based on the call history for each area of the county for every hour of the day.

The county’s computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system was overhauled to reflect the new information and protocols.

All personnel in both Fire/EMS and Communications were retrained on the new protocols and system.

A “tiered” model for delivering services was created, with the needs of the patient determining how resources are dispatched.

Advanced Life Support (ALS) providers respond to calls in “Quick Response Vehicles,” which are set aside for ALS calls.

The QRV vehicles carry ALS equipment such as cardiac monitors, special medical kits and boxes that contain the various medical drugs which trained providers may need to help the patient.

When the transport ambulance arrives, the ALS provider then rides with the patient to the hospital.

Rebuilding the CAD system alone was a six-week effort that involved a team of Fire/EMS field representatives and members of Emergency Communications.
District lines were adjusted and future growth was accommodated.

All members of both departments received training on the new system and each dispatcher received training on new dispatch protocols.

“This program is really the result of a lot of hard work on the part of a lot of people,” Hanover Fire/EMS chief Fred Crosby said. “We did not purchase any new equipment, hire any personnel or contract any services. We formed partnerships, conducted research and developed a response to the findings. Developing these key partnerships was essential to managing the costs and ensuring a successful program, and we’ve been very pleased with the results that we have been able to deliver to the public.”

In all three categories of EMS calls – Priority 1, 2 and 3 – response times have improved by a range of 8.24 percent to 9.68 percent since the program was implemented last year.

“Chief Crosby and his team have shown great initiative and creativity in developing and implementing this quick response program,” Jim Taylor, assistant county administrator, said. “The idea of having roaming responders in a car has shown that it can really make a difference to those in need as arriving even one minute earlier than the ambulance or fire crew can help to save someone’s life. Residents and visitors to our county are indebted to the sophisticated research of our staff and Dr. Laura McLay at VCU.”

Dr. McLay partnered with Hanover County to analyze the call data and determine the most optimal deployment of available resources.

Development of a Quick Response Program was a Fiscal Year 2010 Initiative of the Hanover County Board of Supervisors.

The award-winning entry to NACo was entitled “Next-Generation Emergency Medical Response through Data Analysis & Planning.”

NACo’s Achievement Awards recognize counties for “creative and innovative program development and implementation, efficient administrative management of county agencies and responsible government to local citizens.”

NACo is the only national organization that represents county governments in the United States.

After reviewing all the applications in a category, the judges may pick one or two innovative programs that stood out from the rest.

Best of Category awards may not be awarded in all categories.

These programs are awarded a Best of Category Award in addition to an Achievement Award.