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Show COMMUNICATION TO HELP CURB AREA DEATHS "Needless deaths have occurred In rural Utah because there has been no communication between ambulance and hospital emergency room," Lionel L. Drage, Utah Emergency Medical Services Coordinator, said. The EMS program Is sponsored by the Intermountain Regional Medical Program. "In fact, Utahns in rural areas have had a four times greater chance of dying from accident or illness than those In urban areas, " Drage, who recently completed a statewide survey of hospital emergency facilities, noted. Before June, only nine of the State's 41 hospitals were equipped with radio communications. And the nine were located between Ogden and Point of the Mountain. This communication problem in the Garfield-Piute area was solved during June with the installation of two-way radio equipment. The two-way radio system enables ambulance personnel to communicate with hospital emergency physicians. This means the doctor can extend the doctor's skills to emergency sites. He can advise ambulance technicians on what to do for accident victims and he can be kept abreast of their condition while they are en-route to the hospital. By mid July each Utah hos pltal will have apparatus to communicate with all ambulances serving that hospital. And every ambulance will be ableto communicate with every hospital In the state. |
