Yesterday...Greece Ridge has been a leader in the Local EMS community since the early 1970's. In the mid to late 1980's, RRFD was the first in the NYS region to pilot the use of Automatic External Defibrillators (AED) at the basic level. Three Defibrillators were placed in service during this period, thrusting RRFD into the EMS community spotlight. As the EMS program progressed throughout the 1990's Greece Ridge had an AED unit on each of the front line response vehicles, and officer's vehicles. Late in the 90's RRFD sponsored a Community Defibrillator Training and Placement Program throughout the community, which resulted in a cardiac arrest save in a local mall soon after.
Continuing onward into the new millennium, Battalion Chief Rick Russotti, EMT-P (now retired), had administered and implemented two programs that greatly improved the way EMS was provided at RRFD. An in-service EMT refresher program was implemented to provide certified employees with an alternative method to refresh their knowledge and skills. This program was one of the first of its kind in NYS. Also during the 2000's, an Intermediate Life Support (ILS) service was the focus of advanced treatment initiative here at RRFD. This enhanced emrgency medical service (also one of the first in the NYS) certified career fire fighter to render IV treatment, Endotracheal Intubation and other advanced treatments to help speed needed medications to critically sick patients and provide fluid replacement in severe trauma cases.
As advanced the treatment initiative was, RRFD had also entered into transport agreements with commercially owned and operated ambulance service including Advanced Life Support (ALS).
While BC Russotti's prepared his retirement in the late 2000's, EMS administrators determined that the ILS level of treatment had not been fully utilized due to the quick response of ALS providers by the transport agency. Therefore, the ILS program was discontinued.
TodayToday, the EMS Division is supervised by Captain Ronald Patchett, EMT-P and assisted by select officers and firefighters charged with Q&A of pre-hospital care reports, other documentation and training. Since the late 2000's, RRFD moved away from paper forms and has subscribed
emsCharts®, a HIPAA compliant online reporting service.
TomorrowRRFD will proudly continue to be a leader in the local, regional and state emergency medical community providing to citizens the best pre-hospital care available.
