EMS Archives - FirstWatch

Influenza Update Week Ending 4-14-2018

Influenza (FLU) Update for Week #15 Week Ending 4-14-18 Good news about Flu!! For the second time in-a-row since the third week in November, influenza activity was below the national baseline and the number of flu cases once again decreased. There are still a couple of indicators that have yet to fall; namely, the rate of hospitalizations as a cumulative number and for specific age ranges, as well as the number of pediatric deaths. Hopefully, these numbers will begin to [...]

April 20, 2018 By Jenny Abercrombie Influenza EMS, Health Intelligence, Influenza, Public Health Comments Off

Multi-State E. Coli Outbreak from Romaine Lettuce

IN THE NEWS Multi-State E. Coli Outbreak from Romaine Lettuce The CDC and FDA are investigating an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. Coli O157:H7 that started with New Jersey local and state public health authorities reporting cases, but has now rapidly expanded to 11 states sharing 35 cases (click on link for details) https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2018/o157h7-04-18/map.html. On April 10, the first notice from the CDC announced the outbreak with 17 people infected in 7 states; so, in 3 days, the cases doubled. Talking to [...]

April 17, 2018 By Jenny Abercrombie Health Intelligence, In the Media, In The Media, Newspapers EMS, Health Intelligence, Opioids, Safety Comments Off

Outbreak of Salmonella linked to Kratom

IN THE NEWS Outbreak of Salmonella linked to Kratom The CDC reported that as of April 5th, there is an ongoing outbreak of four (4) different strains of Salmonella infection, with 132 cases spread throughout the United States in 32 states. The greatest number of cases are in the Western states of Washington (13), California (9), Oregon and Idaho, each with 8; New York has 7, Florida, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin all have 6, Virginia and North Dakota each have 5; [...]

April 13, 2018 By Jenny Abercrombie Health Intelligence, In the Media, In The Media, Newspapers EMS, Health Intelligence, Opioids, Safety Comments Off

Synthetic Opioids/Fentanyl and Fentanyl Analogs

1st Responders may have an increased risk of injury in certain encounters with synthetic opioids like Fentanyl or its analogs. Resources and recommendations can assist those Responders in protecting themselves from harm, including Police, Fire, EMS and Hazardous Materials or other Specialist Responders. This is a collection of resources, developed by experts and stakeholder groups, to help identify, mitigate, and manage the risk for First Responders. The documents contain tools, recommendations, charts, and other pertinent information for knowledge as well as [...]

April 9, 2018 By Jenny Abercrombie Health Intelligence, Overdoses / Opioids EMS, Health Intelligence, Opioids, Safety Comments Off

Influenza Update Week Ending 3-31-2018

Influenza (FLU) Update for Week #13 Week Ending 3-31-18 Although Flu and ILI was still elevated above the national baseline, they each continued to decrease last week. Week #13 was the seventh week with decreases in FLU/ILI indicators. The peak of the season occurred during Week #5, ending 2/3/18. For the first time since Flu season ramped up, the adult death rates from pneumonia and flu fell below the epidemic threshold. On average for the past five Flu seasons, ILI remained [...]

April 6, 2018 By Jenny Abercrombie Influenza EMS, Health Intelligence, Influenza, Public Health Comments Off

Influenza Update Week Ending 3-24-2018

Influenza (FLU) Update for Week #12 Week Ending 3-24-18 Although Flu and ILI remained elevated above the national baseline respectively, they each continued to decrease last week. Week #12 was the sixth week with decreases in FLU/ILI indicators. The peak of the season occurred when ILI was at a high of 7.5%, which occurred during Week #5, ending 2/3/18. On average for the past five Flu seasons, ILI remained at/above the national baseline for 16 weeks; 20 weeks was the longest. [...]

March 30, 2018 By Jenny Abercrombie Influenza EMS, Health Intelligence, Influenza, Public Health Comments Off

Influenza Update Week Ending 3-17-2018

Influenza (FLU) Update for Week #11 Week Ending 3-17-18 Although Flu and ILI is still fairly widespread and above the national baseline, respectively, Week #11 was the fifth week with significant decreases in most flu indicators. The peak of the season was when ILI was at a high of 7.5%, which occurred during Week #5, ending 2/3/18. On average for the past five Flu seasons, ILI has remained at/above the national baseline for 16 weeks; 20 weeks is the longest. [...]

March 23, 2018 By Jenny Abercrombie Influenza EMS, Health Intelligence, Influenza, Public Health Comments Off

Influenza Update Week Ending 3-10-2018

Influenza (FLU) Update for Week #10 Week Ending 3-10-18 Although Flu and ILI is still fairly widespread and above the national baseline, respectively, Week #10 was the fourth week with significant decreases in most flu indicators. The peak of the season was when ILI was at a high of 7.5%, which occurred during Week #5, ending 2/3/18. On average for the past five Flu seasons, ILI has remained at/above the national baseline for 16 weeks; 20 weeks is the longest. [...]

March 16, 2018 By Jenny Abercrombie Influenza EMS, Health Intelligence, Influenza, Public Health Comments Off

Influenza Update Week Ending 3-3-2018

Influenza (FLU) Update for Week #9 Week Ending 3-3-18 Although Flu and ILI are still fairly widespread and above the national baseline, respectively, Week #9 was the third week with significant decreases in most flu indicators. The peak of the season was when ILI was at a high of 7.5%, which occurred during Week #5, ending 2/3/18. The one indicator that showed increases in all the reported ages was in hospitalizations for Flu and Pneumonia. This indicator [...]

March 9, 2018 By Jenny Abercrombie Influenza EMS, Health Intelligence, Influenza, Public Health Comments Off

Reducing Opioid Overdose Deaths Within Communities – A Quality Improvement Perspective

Check out the new publication on the role of EMS in addressing the opioid epidemic. It includes an article by our Improvement Guide, Mike Taigman on using quality improvement principles in Deming’s for lenses of Profound Knowledge to decrease deaths and improve recovery for people dealing with opioid addiction: Read the Full Article Here.

March 9, 2018 By Jenny Abercrombie In the Media, Online Media EMS Comments Off

Influenza Update Week Ending 2-17-2018

Influenza (FLU) Update for Week #7 Week Ending 2-17-18 The CDC reported that although there were multiple indicators suggesting that the flu season has hopefully peaked, flu activity is still widespread throughout the United States and, ILI, although lower, remains higher than the peaks of ILI activity in previous flu seasons. Diagnosed flu cases have also decreased slightly. Hospitalizations for this flu season are still outpacing those of the 2014-15 flu season which was considered highly severe [...]

February 23, 2018 By Jenny Abercrombie Influenza EMS, Health Intelligence, Influenza, Public Health Comments Off

Trinity EMS Inc. using FirstWatch to help track the Opioid crisis in Lowell, MA.

FirstWatch is helping to track the Opioid crisis in Lowell, MA. Interview with FirstWatch customer Jon Kelley from Trinity EMS Inc. Watch the Full Video Here.

February 19, 2018 By Jenny Abercrombie In the Media, Online Media, TV Clips EMS Comments Off

A Culture of Quality – Pinellas County (Fla.) EMS implements an effective QI process

See the latest article on how Pinellas County, Florida utilizes FirstPass as part of their quality improvement process. Written by Mike Taigman & Michael Gerber, MPH, NRP. Read the Full Article Here.

February 13, 2018 By Jenny Abercrombie In the Media, Online Media EMS Comments Off

Influenza Update Week Ending 2-03-2018

Week ending 2-3-18 The CDC reported that influenza activity (diagnosed flu and Influenza-Like-Illness) increased once again. Levels have met or exceeded flu and ILI markers from flu seasons over the last decade, including the 2009 Pandemic of H1N1. Although Week #5 is the 11th week of substantial flu activity, and flu activity would normally have peaked by now, that is not the case and the CDC suggests that flu activity may go on for as long as 20 weeks. The [...]

February 9, 2018 By Jenny Abercrombie Influenza EMS, Health Intelligence, Influenza, Public Health Comments Off

New EMS1 Column Post by Mike Taigman – Q&A: How can leaders identify and help EMS providers who need support?

Read the latest post in the new Paramedic Chief column via EMS1, “Better EMS Performance” led by our own Improvement Guide, Mike Taigman. In this new column, Mike and our FirstWatch team along with our customers and colleagues will share actionable strategies, concepts and ideas to make real improvements. This column draws from Learning Organizations, Systems Thinking, Six Sigma, Lean Thinking, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and others you will not need to have a black belt to put these [...]

February 5, 2018 By Jenny Abercrombie Announcements, FirstWatch News, In the Media, Online Media EMS Comments Off

Influenza Update Week Ending 1-27-2018

Week ending 1-27-18 The CDC reported that influenza (Flu) activity, including diagnosed flu and Influenza-Like-Illness (ILI), increased again; there was no indication that flu/ILI was waning. All but two states, Hawaii and Oregon reported widespread flu activity. There was an increase in the number of states that reported high ILI levels again, nearing the levels seen during the 2009 Pandemic. The rate of hospitalizations for this flu season is greater than that seen during the most recent severe flu season [...]

February 2, 2018 By Jenny Abercrombie Influenza EMS, Health Intelligence, Influenza, Public Health Comments Off

Influenza Update Week Ending 1-20-2018

Week ending 1-20-18 TThe CDC reported that influenza (Flu) activity, including diagnosed flu and Influenza-Like-Illness (ILI), increased again. All states reported widespread flu activity except for Hawaii, and ILI levels also increased. This indicates that this flu season is a severe one – at, or just below — the data seen in the most recent highly severe flu season of 2014-15. Deaths associated with flu have reached system-specific epidemic thresholds. The dominating flu subtype remained A H3N2, which is typically [...]

January 26, 2018 By jessica Influenza EMS, Health Intelligence, Influenza, Public Health Comments Off

Influenza Update Week Ending 1-13-2018

Week #56 (ending 1-13-18) The CDC reported that influenza (Flu) activity, including diagnosed flu and Influenza-Like-Illness (ILI), increased again. All states reported widespread flu activity except for Hawaii and ILI also increased. This indicated that this flu season is a severe one – at, or just below — the data seen in the most recent severe flu season of 2014-15. Deaths associated with flu have reached system-specific epidemic thresholds. The dominating flu subtype continued to be A H3N2, typically a [...]

January 19, 2018 By jessica Influenza EMS, Health Intelligence, Influenza, Public Health Comments Off

Influenza Update Week Ending 1-6-2018

Week #55 (ending 1-6-18) The CDC reported that influenza (Flu) activity, including diagnosed flu as well as Influenza-Like-Illness (ILI), increased again and all states reported widespread activity except for Hawaii. The flu and ILI data reported so far matches up with data points from the 2014-15 season which had high severity. The CDC also suggested that it is likely that the peak of the flu season has or soon will occur but flu will probably continue for several more weeks. The [...]

January 12, 2018 By jessica Influenza EMS, Health Intelligence, Influenza, Public Health Comments Off

Seasonal Influenza Resources

We have put together a running list of top Influenza resources for you to make use of during the flu season. Download the Full Resource List

January 10, 2018 By jessica Influenza EMS, Health Intelligence, Influenza, Public Health Comments Off