23-05-2025
Medical Focus: National EMS Week
ANDRESON, Mo. — This week has been National EMS Week – a chance to recognize the challenge of responding to any and all medical emergencies 24-7.
'Nobody ever really plans to need an ambulance that day, for the most part. And you know, there's a lot of situations that arise,' said Mike Ross, Freeman Ambulance Svc. Dir.
For Mike Ross and his 40 plus years of experience, that's most often chest pains.
'I mean, we're able to do a 12-lead EKG on a patient to see if there is an acute mmediate need, you know, for the cath lab. And then in that instance, we coordinate with the cath lab to let them know that we're coming. We actually send them a copy of the 12-lead EKG so that the cardiologist can look and see what they're dealing with, and activate the cath lab if needed.'
The response area for the Freeman Ambulance Service covers every corner of McDonald County – and comes with a unique set of challenges.
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'We have no hospital, actually, in McDonald County, but we have a lot of resources around the county in Northwest Arkansas, Joplin, that type of thing. So transport times are long. Turnaround time from leaving the station to getting back to the station on a call that is out in the county that may go to Joplin would be two and a half hours.'
Ross adds that while working in Emergency Medical Service is a job – that EMS team feels a lot more like family.
'I mean, you spend almost more time with people at work than you do with your own family. And I mean, we're here for breakfast, lunch, dinner, bedtime, early morning, all times of the day. So there really and truly has to be a trust built and a camaraderie built for that type of thing.'
And at the end of the day – it's all about a quick response and saving lives.
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