This past year, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) systems in Marion County were unified and Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services (IEMS) was established. The agency was formed as a partnership between the City of Indianapolis and Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County (HHC), with Wishard as the supervising hospital, and will benefit from medical leadership in quality, education, training and research from the Indiana University School of Medicine.
Indianapolis Mayor Gregory Ballard spearheaded the creation of the unified EMS service to create cost savings as well as improved service and quality of care. Plans for unification were announced in July 2010, and the newly formed agency began operations on December 26, 2010. The service provides emergency medical services, including ambulance transport and prehospital care, inside historic city limits, Franklin Township and the Town of Speedway (previously served by Wishard), Warren and Washington Townships (previously served by the Indianapolis Fire Department), and Lawrence Township (previously served by the City of Lawrence).
“Indianapolis EMS is a true partnership between the IU School of Medicine, the Department of Public Safety and Health and Hospital Corporation that marries business expertise, municipal leadership and focus on patient care,” said Dr. Charles Miramonti, chief of Indianapolis EMS.
In just six months, Indianapolis EMS has enhanced quality care for residents and patients created by greater coordination between police, fire and EMS as well as uniform training led by the IU School of Medicine.
Some specific accomplishments include:
• Response times are averaging better than the national benchmark with 92 percent of time critical runs coming in under the 9-minute standard. The national benchmark is 90 percent.
• Patient Satisfaction surveys report 90 percent or better satisfaction scores across five of the six performance areas.
• IEMS is on target this year to respond to greater than 90,000 calls in Marion County, transporting patients to hospitals throughout Marion County.
• The agency has provided EMS coverage for many special events including Indiana Pacers games, all events at Conseco Fieldhouse, the Penrod Art Fair, the Indianapolis 500 and the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon & Parade, to name a few.
• The agency has created cost savings through efficiency which means improved service and enhanced quality care for residents and patients created by greater coordination between police, fire and EMS as well as uniform training led by the IU School of Medicine.
• The agency has developed and implemented groundbreaking programs in performance metrics, field training and provider development to ensure the highest quality of care possible.
• The IEMS Education Department has completed thousands of hours of on-duty EMS education to maintain Indiana and national certifications for 300 IEMS personnel and 1200 IFD personnel.
• Indianapolis EMS operates as a division of the Department of Public Safety and was formed via unification of Wishard and Indianapolis Fire Department EMS services.
To learn more about Indianapolis EMS, visit www.IndianapolisEMS.org. You can also follow Indianapolis EMS on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/IndianapolisEMS) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/indianapolisems).
