Chris Yungbluth, a Paramedic Specialist with Lakes Regional Healthcare, spoke to the Iowa Great Lakes Rotary on Wednesday, June 1st. Chris shared many little known facts about the Emergency Room and emergency services with the group, including:

·         LRH ER sees 6000-7000 patients annually (majority in summer)

·         Average 25/day or 750/month

·         Forgetting to pack medications for vacation is a common reason for visits in the summer – by Iowa law, you need a doctor’s prescription for meds and on weekends, visitors need to go to ER for script if needed

·         Additional common reasons for visits in the summer are heat exhaustion, lacerations (fish hook removal kit is used frequently in ER), swimmers itch and general trauma

·         A physician covers the ER 24/7

·         Additional services found in the ER are basic labs, EKG, Xray (room right inside ER), CT, wide boar MRI (coming soon), respiratory therapy

·         EER is coming soon – this is where physicians in the ER can consult with specialists live in Sioux Falls through TV technology

·         Over 100 physicians (including 20 specialists) practice at LRH ER

·         For special events like the 4th of July, 2 docs are scheduled in the ER (last year during U of O Homecoming, 19 calls in 3 ½ hours were covered during the triathalon) so the staff schedules accordingly when events are going on in the lakes area

·         The Ambulance crew consists of 2 full time crews with a 3rd on-call crew as needed (8 paramedic specialists and 8 casual staff)

·         First responders are also part of the team in surrounding communities – they have EMT Basic training and are usually first on site

·         The ambulance averages 1400 calls/year (75% are 911 calls, 16% are transfers, 10% refusals or cancels). Transfers average 5,000 miles/month in summer.

·         Goal of ambulance crew is to be out of door of hospital within 2 minutes of call (95% of time) and on scene in less than 8 minutes (75% of time)