With 4- minute average response time, Bay Regional’s
EMS teams covers the 444.25 square-mile Bay County region.

Emergency dispatch: Probable heart attack 16 blocks from the main Washington Street station. Within 30 seconds, emergency medical technicians (EMTs) are aboard, and the siren begins to wail.

Jack B. was watching the Detroit Pistons put points on the board against the Indiana Pacers. He begins to feel a little nauseous, but dismisses it to the tacos they had for dinner. He asks his wife, Sharon, to bring him a soft drink. Maybe the carbonation will help. While waiting, he feels a little tightness in his chest. In the 20 seconds it takes for Sharon to come to the living room, Jack is sweating as profusely as the players he’s been watching.

Sharon heads to the bathroom for an aspirin. She hands Jack water and aspirin, and tells him to take the aspirin right away. She heads to the phone and dials 9-1-1. Automatically, the call is routed to Bay Regional’s EMS dispatch system.

Sharon does everything right while talking to the EMS dispatcher:

• She identifies herself and tells dispatch she thinks her 42-year-old husband may be having a heart attack. She describes the physical symptoms.
• She provides dispatch with their address and phone number, and the cross streets to their home.
• She stays on the line until the dispatcher releases her, saying EMS should be there in 1-2 minutes.

Sharon tells Jack to be calm; that she’s called 9-1-1. Mentally, she’s counting down the seconds. Seventy seconds and the EMS unit arrives. Two of Bay’s EMS paramedics arrive and take Jack’s vital signs and place a mask to start oxygen flow. They tell Sharon they think Jack is having a heart attack and to follow them to Bay Regional’s Emergency Department.

Once in the ambulance, one paramedic connects Jack to a 12-lead electrocardiogram, and starts an intravenous line. She places a nitroglycerin pill under Jack’s tongue. Through their cell phone, she faxes the EKG to Bay’s ER. She tells Bay ER that Jack’s wife is following by car, and to keep her updated. In 90 seconds, the Bay EMS unit is pulling into Emergency. The Bay emergency team is waiting, and Jack is quickly shuttled into a trauma room. Within minutes, he is headed for emergency bypass surgery.

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IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS

Central Dispatch (Ambulance, Fire, Police) 9-1-1
Helen M. Nickless Volunteer Clinic (989) 895-4830
Bay Regional Medical Center Emergency Department (989) 894-3111
Poison Control 1-800-764-7661

Crisis Intervention Centers