The Granite Falls Ambulance

The Granite Falls Ambulance provides the town of Granite Falls, Minnesota, and the surrounding communities with ALS (Advanced Life Support) and BLS (Basic Life Support) services. The service is operated and based out of the Granite Falls Hospital. This supports active involvement within the hospital as well as prehospital. Many of the members of the ambulance crew are involved with other positions and activities within the hospital. The service makes approximately 600 emergency runs per year. The ambulance service is involved with emergency care and transfers to and from the Granite Falls Municipal Hospital, or other hospitals in the area. The ambulance team is also capable of intercepting and assisting BLS ambulance services in the area. The Granite Falls Ambulance Service currently maintains the contract for the Veterans Administration for greater southwestern Minnesota. The ambulance service currently has three ambulances, all with state of the art equipment and a full spectrum of ALS medications. All three are capable of providing ALS or BLS services, as patient needs dictate. The service is designed for calls of all types. The service has the ability to transfer acutely ill patients over long distances while providing safe and quality care. We feel the transfer of a patient is our chance to meet or exceed the needs of the patient and their family. We look forward to serving you and demonstrating our commitment to quality.

People
The Granite Falls Ambulance Service employs a variety of highly trained and dedicated individuals. We believe our people make our service a very unique and special part of the health care team. At the present time, we have three RN/paramedics and three other paramedics who are currently in nursing school. The remaining 21 quality members are EMTÂ¹s who are made up of RNÂ¹s, LPNÂ¹s, respiratory therapist, police officers, and other professions. The ambulance crew are all active members of the comprehensive health care team of the Granite Falls Hospital. Support for the service also comes from the Hospital Administrator and the Board of Directors. As members of the community, they realize the needs of our rural community. They are also avid supporters of this special healthcare team. Medical direction for the hospital based ambulance service comes from our co-medical directors. They are Dr. Arthur Rillo and Dr. Darrell Carter. They have both been very active in their roles as medical directors. Dr. Carter won the national award for Physician of the Year in 2004, and is the founder of the CALÂ¹s Program. With both their leadership, the service is very aggressive and stays on top of changes in EMS. The Comprehensive Advanced Life (CALÂ¹s) support theme of "team care" is a key part of our training. It proves invaluable in the high level of expert care that is provided for the patient. The ambulance staff and hospital staff work closely together within this CALS approach, in providing only the best of care for the patients of this area. The Rapid Assessment Team has been created at the Granite Falls Hospital. The purpose is to provide early, life saving interventions for our patients. This team is composed of the nurse, charge nurse, paramedic, EMT and RT. This is an example of the commitment of our health care team in providing for our patients.

Training and Equipment:
In addition to providing emergency and transfer care, the Granite Falls Ambulance Service is dedicated to educating both staff and community members in healthcare. The service provides classes for large and small groups alike. The service has instructors who are DOT certified and teach a variety of courses. The private sectorÂ¹s needs are met on a case by case basis. Nearly 1000 people a year complete CPR and First Aid within the community. Classes for Fire Departments, First Responders and other ambulance services are also provided by our service. Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Pediatric Advanced Life Support, and Dysrhythmia courses are taught for our facility and other local hospitals. Members of the ambulance service, along with other hospital staff, work to maintain the educational level of the area. The Granite Falls Ambulance staff strives to continually learn new techniques and skills. All EMT BasicÂ¹s are IV certified and can administer variance-approved medications. The ambulance service is fully equipped as a mobile intensive care unit. Each ambulance has and maintains a full medication list. Staff operates with standing orders or direct communication with the patientÂ¹s physician. Ambulances are stocked with state of the art equipment. This includes cardiac monitors capable of complete cardiac monitoring. They also provide EKGÂ¹s, defibrillation, End Tidal CO2, and pacing. Triple IV pumps are standard equipment and a must for critical patients. IV equipment includes all IVÂ¹s, portacath access, as well as a variety of intraosseous devices. A full line of multiple advanced air way equipment is maintained. This includes a ventilator for patients requiring transfer in critical situations. Our advanced trained staff maintains an elevated skill level in dealing a variety of patients. These can range from obstetrics to geriatrics. The unique makeup and extensive training of this service, allows for a very competent and a high level of care for patients of all ages. Our medical staff is a real driving force in maintaining this high level of expertise. Competence testing and intensive training by the medical staff have led the staff to be always found in the forefront of quality patient care.

Our service maintains a high level of competency with routine cares as well as the following advanced level of cares:

Rapid Sequence Intubation
Paralytics
Catheters
EZ IO and Fast1 Intraosseous Infusion
PICC Line Access and Care
Portacath Access and Care
Advanced Airways
Comprehensive Medication List
Ventilators
IV Pumps
Pneumothorax Kits
Chest Tube Care
Foley Catheters
Doppler Monitoring
EKGÂ
Cardioversion
Cardiac Pacing
End Tidal CO2 Monitoring
Sterile Technique and Care

Emergency Childbirth Educational Abilities We offer quality courses taught by seasoned EMS and DOT instructors. We offer these classes either at the Granite Falls Hospital or at your facility. The following classes are available and structured with your needs in mind. 1) ACLS 7) American Heart CPR 2) PALS 8) CPR Instructor Classes 3) EMT 9) Dysrythmia Recognition 4) EMT Refresher 10) IV Training 5) First Responder 11) First Aid 6) First Responder Refresher

Anyone needing our services for transfers from one facility to another can contact the Granite Falls Hospital at (320) 564-3111 or simply contact the Yellow Medicine County Dispatch at (320) 564-2130 for us to be paged.

Training can be scheduled by calling the contact numbers listed below. Anyone seriously interested in joining this excellent health care team, please feel free to contact me at these numbers or send your resume to the address listed below.

Contact numbers: (320) 564-6274 Office (320) 564-3111 Hospital
(320) 226-1202 Gene's Cell
Gene Hughes RN/EMT-P Ambulance Director
Granite Falls Ambulance
345 10th Avenue Granite Falls, MN 56241