Pownal Rescue turning over care of a critical patient to life flight for rapid transport to a Level 1 Trauma Center.
A busy shift for Pownal Rescue with both units (PR1 and PR2) out at our local hospital after transporting patients for emergency care.
Pownal Rescue working collaboratively with our local fire departments and Sheriff Department to rescue an injured individual from the wilderness.
Primary ems response & care
Pownal Rescue provides 24/7/365 primary EMS coverage to our community.
Normal staffing consists of one fully staffed ambulance crew, and typically an on call crew when available.
We have two ambulances in our fleet that are available and ready at all times as needed.
We train and empower our clinicians to make sound, patient-centered clinical decisions in every situation, ensuring the highest standard of care for those we serve.
While the vast majority of our patients are transported to Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, our trusted local community hospital, certain medical emergencies such as heart attacks, strokes, and severe traumatic injuries require more specialized care.
In these situations, we coordinate closely with regional air medical facilities and utilize ground transport when appropriate to ensure patients are taken to the facility best equipped to meet their needs. These specialty centers are typically located thirty to sixty minutes away under ideal driving conditions, longer if weather is a factor.
Our priority is always to deliver the right care, at the right place, at the right time for our community.
Mutual aid
We provide mutual aid services to our neighboring communities when they are in need, such as Bennington, Woodford, Williamstown, North Adams, and to our neighbors in Hoosick, Hoosick Falls, and Petersburg. When the number of emergencies exceed the number of available ambulances in a community a request for mutual aid occurs and an ambulance from a neighboring community will be requested and respond if available. Mutual aid is a collaborative effort between neighbors to ensure that emergency medical services are always available day or night to provide the best care, to those in need. Mutual aid coverage helps save lives.
PARAMEDIC INTERCEPT
We provide paramedic intercept services to support our neighboring communities when advanced care is needed.
When an ambulance is not staffed at the paramedic (ALS) level and a patient requires advanced life support interventions, a paramedic can be requested to assist. Our paramedic will meet the requesting crew either on scene or while en route to the hospital, ensuring a seamless transition of care.
Through this coordinated approach, we are able to deliver advanced, timely interventions and help ensure patients receive the highest level of care available.
“Dear Rescue Squad Members,
Thank you to all who helped me on June 9th. I’m sorry I didn’t get your names but I’m sure you understand. In all my eighty-four years I’ve never been sicker, but your professionalism gave me assurance that I would be o.k.
My thanks to all and God Bless.”
- Pownal Resident
Advanced Clinical Assessment and Critical Decision Making
We train our crews using a specially tailored and rigorous Field Training and Evaluation Program (FTEP). This is a specialized program that we utilize to ensure each newly certified provider is trained and tested prior to being cleared to operate independently on our ambulances. This program ensures our providers have all of the tools and resources they need to provide exceptional care and service, and make appropriate clinical decisions based on their patient assessments.