Incorporated in 1969, the North Collins Emergency Squad has been providing 100% volunteer emergency ambulance services for over 50 years.
We have two Intermediate Life Support (ILS) ambulances, providing Advanced EMT (AEMT)-level care to North Collins, NY and the surrounding communities.
Consistent with our State and Regional protocols, North Collins EMS is able to provide the following care to our patients:
- Zoll X-series cardiac monitors, allowing all of our EMTs to acquire an ECG (electrocardiogram, an electrical tracing of the heart) and wirelessly transmit to a hospital to provide rapid diagnosis and advanced notification of heart attacks
- Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices, allowing all of our EMTs to assist patients in severe respiratory distress or having difficulty maintaining adequate oxygen levels despite our usual oxygen delivery
- Advanced airway management and intravenous therapy available to our advanced EMTs
- Stryker Power-PRO stretchers, allowing our crews to more safely lift, move, and transfer our patients
We also have close working relationships and mutual-aid agreements with neighboring services to provide paramedic-level care when indicated.
EMS Education and Training
All members on our ambulance – even our non-EMT drivers – are required to maintain CPR/AED certification. We offer free in-house CPR training to all active members and provide reasonably priced CPR courses to a number of local fire departments and community organizations.
We work closely with Erie County Department of Health’s Divison of EMS to provide new members with access to free initial and recurrent EMT training.
All our EMTs are required to adhere to the protocols and practice standards set forth by New York State, our regional EMS council, and our physician medical director. Each EMT must demonstrate competency in all required skills on an annual basis and attend in-house training, in-servicing, and continuing education classes on a regular basis to remain up-to-date with patient care practices, equipment use, and other important aspects of EMS.
EMS Practice & Patient Care
As mentioned above, our practice is regulated at three different levels: The New York State Bureau of EMS provides statewide basic life support protocols for all certified EMS providers practicing within New York State. Advanced life support protocols are issued by regional EMS councils, including the Western Regional EMS Advisory Council that provides the protocols for North Collins EMS. Lastly, each EMS agency’s physician medical director is responsible to credential and oversee each EMS provider practicing within these protocols. Medical direction at North Collins EMS is provided through UB|MD Emergency Medicine’s EMS Division.
What’s with the different kinds of EMTs?
New York State is aligning with the national EMS education standards. In the long-term, this will provide for 5 different levels of care within the emergency medical services profession.
CFR: Certified First Responder – While not used by North Collins EMS, this is a basic level of medical training often used by non-transport services (like the fire department or police department) to begin to stabilize and treat a patient before the ambulance arrives, or by some ambulance services to assist EMTs with treatment. At the national level, this is often referred to as an Emergency Medical Responder (EMR).
EMT: Emergency Medical Technician (Sometimes EMT-Basic or EMT-B) – The basic level of emergency medical care, and the minimum standard for all transporting ambulance services, the EMT is trained in basic life support (BLS) measures, oxygen administration, splinting, wound care, and the administration of basic life-saving medications.
AEMT: Advanced Emergency Medical Technician – The AEMT, in addition to BLS care provided by the EMT-B, has been trained in limited advanced life support (ALS) skills including advanced airway management, intravenous (IV) therapy, and the administration of certain IV emergency medications. This level enhances and replaces the former level of Intermediate EMT (or EMT-I), which has since been retired by New York State.
EMT-CC: Critical Care Technician – The EMT-CC is trained in BLS care as well as advanced airway management, IV therapy, cardiac monitoring, and multiple emergency medications to treat and stabilize most life-threatening conditions before delivery to an emergency department.
This level of care is unique to New York State and is not aligned with a national level of care. It is not the same as a Critical Care Paramedic used in other parts of the country for advanced interfacility transports.
EMT-P: Paramedic – The Paramedic is the highest trained prehospital emergency provider. In addition to the BLS skills of the EMT and the ALS skills of the AEMT and EMT-CC, the paramedic has additional education in understanding anatomy, physiology, and disease processes; has access to extended emergency medications; and can perform additional emergency cardiovascular and invasive airway management skills.
RN: Registered Nurse – New York State does not officially recognize RN practice in the prehospital EMS setting. (Some specific exceptions may be made for flight programs or for interfacility (hospital-to-hospital) transfers, but North Collins EMS does not offer these services).