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Beech Grove speeds to top of EMS ranks  

Paramedic John Bishop listens to the vital signs of a patient injured at work while paramedic student Jill Smith observes. Beech Grove has the first fire department in Indiana to be accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services. -- Rob Goebel / The Star   Response times Here's a look at average emergency medical service response times in 2002 for Marion County fire departments: • 1. Beech Grove -- 3 minutes, 24 seconds • 2. Perry Township -- 3:30 • 3. Speedway -- 3:30 • 4. Indianapolis Fire Department -- 3:42 • 5. Washington Township -- 4:00 • 6. Lawrence Township -- 4:30 • 7. Warren Township -- 4:31 • 8. City of Lawrence --4:45 • 9. Pike Township --4:45 • 10. Wayne Township -- 4:49 • 11. Franklin Township -- 5:17 • 12. Decatur Township -- 5:34 Accreditation Here's a look at other fire departments that have been accredited for their EMS responses: • 1. Carrollton, Texas • 2. Oak Park, Ill. • 3. Plano, Texas • 4. Loveland, Ohio • 5. Henderson, Nev. • 6. Derry, N.H.

The Beech Grove Fire Department saved Donna Stratton's life.

Less than two minutes after her husband, Benny, called 911 last September, the department's ambulance squad was at the Stratton's door responding to Donna's heart attack. Medical experts said she would have been dead in 10 minutes.

"If it wasn't for the ambulance men, she wouldn't be here," said Benny, 72.

The Stratton's are lucky. They are served by a fire department with one of the quickest response times in the country.

The Beech Grove Fire Department's average emergency medical service response time in 2002 was 3 minutes and 24 seconds -- well below the maximum acceptable time of about eight minutes for severe heart attacks.

It's a big reason why the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services last month accredited Beech Grove as a leading emergency medical service provider.

Beech Grove is the first department in Indiana and only the seventh nationally to be accredited by the organization.

Eighty-five ambulance services have received the same accreditation, but fire departments only recently began providing ambulance service, said Meredith Hellestrae, executive director of the accreditation service.

Indianapolis does relatively well when it comes to emergency medical services. A survey by The Star found that all the township and city departments in Marion County had average response times in 2002 of less than six minutes.

But Beech Grove is the fastest.

Jim Pierce, a Beech Grove Fire Department emergency medical services supervisor, worked on the accreditation requirements for 18 months. Pierce had to rewrite policies, update practices and help develop a new way to track the efficiency of the Beech Grove ambulance service.

The department keeps detailed statistics to evaluate its performance. Every run -- fire or medical -- is entered into a computer program that sorts response times, medicine administered and other key variables by individual firefighter, shift and unit.

Pierce can know in seconds how many times it took any firefighter to administer an IV on any run. If there's a recurring problem, he'll recommend training.

"It makes us accountable," Pierce said.

Chuck Ford, director of Emergency Response for Wishard Health Services, said accreditation is a good way to measure where a department stands.

"There really aren't any national standards, so this helps you get some benchmarks," he said. Ford said Beech Grove "deserves to be happy with themselves."

"For anyone to invite in an outside firm to take a look at you, it takes a lot of guts," Ford said.

Beech Grove Fire Chief Dennis Buckley said the department is constantly looking at how it can improve. For example, he said any response of more than four minutes is flagged and reviewed.

In Indianapolis, Wishard Ambulance Service, which works with the Indianapolis Fire Department to provide emergency medical service, cannot track response times as closely. Each run is documented through a paper system, but the information is not pooled.

The Wishard/IFD partnership is working on a program similar to Beech Grove's, but such a program is still a year away, emergency medical officials said.

Beech Grove is a city of 14,880 surrounded by Indianapolis. Its fire department and ambulance service are relatively small: 29 firefighters, two ambulances, two fire engines, two stations. They answered 2,457 emergency calls last year.

Wishard Ambulance Service, by comparison, covers most of Indianapolis. It responded to more than 65,000 911 calls in 2002. The Indianapolis Fire Department has 751 firefighters.

Beech Grove firefighters were back at the Stratton's' home recently after Donna Stratton collapsed with heart problems for a second time. It was another quick response that saved her life, Benny Stratton said.

She's recovering at home after six days on a respirator. Benny counts his blessings every day Donna is with him. Benny knows he's lucky to live in Beech Grove, too.

"I'll tell you how fast the ambulance men were," Benny said. "My son lives 400 feet behind me: I called the ambulance, then I called my son. They both got here at the same time. Now can you believe that?"

Call Star reporter Aaron Sharockman at 1-317-444-6247.