fbpx

Nicholas Rosecrans Winners

The Recipients of the 13th Annual Nicholas Rosecrans Award

AMR Clackamas County, Oregon

For their River Safety Program

 

A.J. Heightman; Keith Griffiths, President, RedFlash Group; Representing AMR’s River Safety Program in Clackamas County Oregon: Lauer, General Manager for AMR in Oregon; Scott Stafford, Lead Instructor; Justine Kilsby, Program Coordinator; Lucie Drum, PIO; and Lynn Artz (Mother of Nicholas); Paul Maxwell, Cofounder, EPIC Medics

Baltimore, MD. (February 28, 2015)–At a special ceremony at the national EMS Today conference, the American Medical Response (AMR) River Safety Program in Clackamas County, Oregon received the highly regarded Nicholas Rosecrans Award, given annually to an EMS agency or individual demonstrating excellence and leadership in injury prevention.

In the late 1990’s, local officials in Clackamas County Oregon were stunned when over a five-year period 13 people drowned, including many children, in a local river park.  AMR worked with the local community and lifeguards with a goal to end deaths at the park through a program of prevention and education.

“The River Safety Program has been a labor of love for AMR’s Justine Kilsby, Scott Stafford and Lucie Drum,” said Randy Lauer, who heads operations in the northwest for AMR. “Their effort, and the effort of their colleagues in the program, have made a significant difference. We’re very proud of their unselfish service to their community.”

In 2002, JEMS and EPIC Medics introduced the Nicholas Rosecrans award, created by paramedics Paul Maxwell and Josh Krimston in the memory of a little boy who died in a preventable drowning. It is supported by the National Highway Traffic Administrations’ Federal Office of EMS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Laerdal Medical, and the RedFlash Group.

“While we celebrate many different kinds of injury prevention programs, this year’s winner particularly resonates,” said Maxwell, who was one of the paramedics who cared for Nicholas and later met with Lynn, the boy’s mother. (Nicholas had wandered away from a daycare facility and fell into a backyard pool nearby. Maxwell and his colleagues at EPIC Medics made it their mission to eliminate preventable drowning in their community, using awareness but also advocating for new laws requiring backyard pools to be fenced.)

“The River Safety Program has prevented hundreds of rescues from ever having to take place, and saved many lives, many of whom are children,” said Maxwell. “In fact, based on the trends from the previous 15 years, it is estimated that 57 lives have been saved since the inception of the program. They are to be commended for their dedication.”

The AMR River Safety Team works with the local Safe Kids organization, local nonprofits and hospitals to provide community education on water safety. On site, AMR performs several thousand outreach encounters to warn of hazards and to get to them before their lives are at risk in the swift moving water that can take even the most seasoned swimmer by surprise.

 

 

 

 

×

The Recipients of the 14th Annual Nicholas Rosecrans Award

The Code Green Campaign

For excellence in suicide prevention.

Spokane, WA – March 6th, 2016 –  The Code Green Campaign has been awarded the 2016 Nicholas Rosecrans Award for Excellence in Injury Prevention. The award is presented by EPIC Medics in conjunction with JEMS, The RedFlash Group, the NHTSA’s office of EMS, and Laerdal Medical in recognition of emergency responders who demonstrate leadership, commitment and innovation in preventing injuries.The Code Green Campaign works towards preventing suicides in first responders by raising awareness and providing education about the high rates of PTSD and suicide in the field. Since Code Green was founded in 2014 they have collected nearly 400 stories from first responders about their personal experiences with stress and trauma, have created a database of first responder-friendly mental health resources, and have distributed over 22,000 resource cards, in addition to several other projects they are engaged in.

The Code Green Campaign works towards preventing suicides in first responders by raising awareness and providing education about the high rates of PTSD and suicide in the field. Since Code Green was founded in 2014 they have collected nearly 400 stories from first responders about their personal experiences with stress and trauma, have created a database of first responder-friendly mental health resources, and have distributed over 22,000 resource cards, in addition to several other projects they are engaged in.

Ann Marie Farina, president of The Code Green Campaign said “We are honored to receive the award and humbled that after only being around for two years we are seen as being as worthy of the award as the previous winners. Code Green’s mission is quite a bit different than the winners in years past, but our ultimate goal is still prevention. Preventing suicide and preventing providers from leaving the field due to the trauma they’ve experienced.”

 

 

 

 

 

×

The Recipients of the 12th Annual Nicholas Rosecrans Awards

Piedmont Medical Center EMS

For your leadership in The Safe Kids York County Coalition.

and

Richmond Ambulance Authority

For Rider Alert – Crossing Alert – Great Days of CPR

Noah Rosecrans; Robert D. White, EMS Community Relations Coordinator, Piedmont Medical Center EMS; Lynn Artz; Rob Lawrence, Chief Operating Officer, Richmond Ambulance Authority; Paul Maxwell, Cofounder, EPIC Medics; Keith Griffiths, President, RedFlash Group

 

 

 

 

 

 

×

The Recipient of the 11th Annual Nicholas Rosecrans Award

Jorge Rossi, Fire Lieutenant/Paramedic

Pompano Beach Fire Rescue

For his leadership in ‘No Child Locked Inside: Creating Awareness About the Dangers of Leaving Children in Hot Vehicles’

 

Pompano’s Awareness Program
Pompano Beach Fire Rescue has embarked on the “No Child Locked Inside: Creating awareness of the dangers of leaving children in hot vehicles” awareness program. The Action Plan provides established goals, objectives and tasks that must be completed to assure a successful awareness program and see a reduction in injury and death of children.

Although new, the program has been well received by citizens who have had exposure to the surveys and handouts. Many who were surprised by the statistics and unaware of the grim realities of what has occurred over the past 14 years have expressed appreciation for the newfound awareness.

I recently had the honor of being awarded the Nicholas Rosecrans Award at the 2013 EMS Today Conference & Exposition in Washington D.C. for the conducted research and awareness program. I had the opportunity to present our research and program to EMS professionals from across the country during the conference. The feedback was positive, which gave reassurance that we are on the right track to reducing death and injury of the innocent children.

The hope is that by sharing our research, experience and awareness program, you will take a comprehensive look at your own communities and, if warranted, take a proactive approach to community risk reduction by establishing your own awareness program and help spread the word to leave No Child Locked Inside.

The complete applied research project can be found at www.lrc.fema.gov/efop.html and searching either “No Child Locked Inside: Creating Awareness About the Dangers of Leaving Children in Hot Vehicles” or “Jorge Rossi.” Send any questions via email to Jorge.Rossi@copbfl.com.

 

 

 

 

×

The Recipient of the 17th Annual Nicholas Rosecrans Award

Mike Filson, Chula Vista Fire Department

For his leadership in WARN: Water Awareness in Residential Neighborhoods

Captain Mike Filson, of Chula Vista FD, receives the 2018 Nicholas Rosecrans Award during the keynote address of the EMS Today Conference.

February 21, 2018. This past Wednesday in Charlotte, North Carolina, the California Paramedic Foundation and EPIC Medics conferred the 17th annual Nicholas Rosecrans Award to Captain Mike Filson of Chula Vista Fire Department. Captain Filson was honored during the opening keynote ceremony of the EMS Today Conference for his WARN: Water Awareness in Residential Neighborhoods program which has successfully worked to prevent residential drownings.

Captain Filson started the comprehensive prevention program in 2011 after his department saw a string of preventable drownings throughout their community. The WARN system centers on high-quality education to both providers and the public. After successfully implementing the program in his own community, Captain Filson expanded his reach by training over 50 other departments across his region.The program has been highly successful in both its scope and influence.

Paramedics for the Elimination of Preventable Injury in Children, or EPIC Medics, was founded by Paul Maxwell in 1997 after he too experienced a series of tragic child drownings. EPIC Medics soon realized the power of paramedic-driven public health campaigns, which flips traditional 911 on its head by using providers to eliminate emergencies before they ever happen. Paul and his team then created the Nicholas Rosecrans Award, named after the young child whose drowning spurred EPIC Medics, to encourage providers to create equally powerful programs in their own communities.  Lynn Artz, Nicholas’ mother, personally attends each annual event to thank organizers for their work.

Captain Filson’s WARN program and EPIC Medics’ start share a common theme of pediatric drowning prevention, however the Nicholas Rosecrans Award has recognized diverse initiatives over the last two decades.  Prior winners have worked on everything from auto-safety to provider-injury prevention. The award is supported by our generous partners: NHTSA, JEMS, Laerdal and Redflash Group. We thank these partners for their continued support and passion for EMS-driven public health.

 

 

 

 

×

The Recipient of the 10th Annual Nicholas Rosecrans Award

Wake County EMS, North Carolina

For their leadership in the Advanced Practice Paramedic Program

Skip Kirkwood, Deputy Director and Chief

In January 2009 Wake County EMS began a new “Advanced Practice Paramedic” (APP) program designed to add a new and efficient enhancement to the existing EMS delivery model.

The APP program has three main objectives:

Reduce the occurrence of, or minimize, medical crises for persons with specific medical conditions known to benefit from close medical monitoring. Increasing the overall well-being of the patient can prevent the need for EMS response and decrease the time and money spent by patients and other taxpayers for emergency room visits and hospital stays.

Studies show that diabetics, high blood pressure patients with congestive heart failure, those with increased risk of falls (such as people over 65 years of age), some substance abusers, and children with asthma may all significantly benefit by home visits from medical care providers such as our Advanced Practice Paramedics.

Redirect care for people with mental health or substance abuse crises at facilities other than the emergency room when no other medical emergency exists. APPs may evaluate a patient along with paramedics from a responding ambulance to help determine if the patient would benefit by treatment at another facility. For appropriate patients, the APP will determine the best alternative treatment location and arrange for the patient’s transportation and admission. Ambulance transport to the emergency room is always an option if our patients request other medical evaluation or treatment.

The mean hold time for a mental health patient in an emergency department is 14 hours. Within the first six months of the APP program, we have referred 167 patients, returning approximately 2,400 bed-hours to local emergency departments. This equates to 800 chest pain evaluations in our community.

Ensure that an additional experienced paramedic is available on critical level calls by responding alongside paramedic ambulances. While some EMS systems use a “paramedic chase car” to provide the lone paramedic responding to assist a basic ambulance, our approach brings APPs to provide a supplemental paramedic with a high frequency of critical patient care encounters to augment the care being provided by our outstanding ambulance-based EMS providers and fire service first responders.

The Wake County EMS System currently uses 17 specially trained Advanced Practice Paramedics to operate up to five APP response units at the busiest times of the day, with at least two of those units remaining in service overnight. They operate out of single-responder vehicles with paramedic and personal protective equipment designed to allow them to operate independently until an ambulance arrives or to provide additional medications or equipment to ambulances if needed. APPs attended an in-house education program consisting of more than 200 didactic hours and 128 clinical hours.

 

 

 

 

×

The Recipient of the 9th Annual Nicholas Rosecrans Award

The NAEMT

For their EMS Safety Course

Glenn Luedtke of the NAEMT

NAEMT’s EMS Safety course aims to promote a culture of EMS safety and to help reduce the number and intensity of injuries incurred by EMS practitioners in carrying out their work. It helps increase students’ awareness and understanding of EMS safety standards and practices and develop their ability to effectively implement them. EMS Safety is the first national and most comprehensive education program of its kind that teaches techniques on how to best achieve safety on the job.

EMS Safety covers safety in emergency vehicles, at the operational scene and while handling patients, as well as patient, practitioner and bystander safety and personal health.

The course offers an overview of current issues surrounding safety in EMS, presents and discusses case studies, builds risk assessment and decision-making skills and provides an opportunity for participants to relate their own experiences with EMS safety issues.

EMS Safety is for all EMS practitioners, other medical professionals providing prehospital patient care, EMS supervisors and administrators concerned with safety.

Students who take EMS Safety will learn to: 

-Identify key elements in the safe operation of an ambulance.

-Describe techniques for moving and securing patients safely.

-Recognize situations where the EMS practitioner may be at risk of violence, and how such situations may be either avoided or addressed.

-Appreciate the importance of maintaining good personal health, and the impact of EMS service on practitioners’ personal health.

-Address safety elements in a variety of operational situations

The course charges students to become leaders in creating a culture of safety within EMS and identifies steps they can take to be a part of the process. The curriculum covers crew resource management, emergency vehicle safety, responsibilities in scene operations, patient handling, patient, practitioner and bystander safety, and personal health. 

All NAEMT continuing education courses are accredited by the Continuing Education Coordinating Board for Emergency Medical Services (CECBEMS).

They also are recognized for recertification requirements by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT).

For more information about the course, please contact us at 1-800-34-NAEMT or email us at info@naemt.org with your name, phone number where you can be reached.  Please include if you are interested in holding the course or taking the course.

 

 

 

 

×

The Recipient of the 2010 Nicholas Rosecrans Award

San Diego Medical Services

For their Serial Inebriate Program

The winner of the 2010 Nicholas Rosecrans Award goes to San Diego Medical Services for their Serial Inebriate Program, called SIP.

San Diego was a pioneer in addressing the challenge of the SLIDE 7  intoxicated homeless, who were frequent users of the 911 system, often for falls resulting in trauma. 

The SIP program did everything right, in terms of assessment, collaboration between agencies, appropriate intervention and evaluation.  They worked hard to manage a small but significant population, getting them into appropriate rehab facilities, resulting in reduced calls for paramedics—and fewer injuries.  They have become a model for other programs around the country. 

 

 

 

 

 

×

The 2008 Nicholas Rosecrans Award Recipient

Frisco Fire Department

For their Frisco Fire Safety Town

Frisco Fire Safety Town is a place where children learn real life strategies for dealing with emergencies while developing a positive attitude towards safety.  Frisco Fire Safety Town combines traditional classroom education methods with unique interactive experiences in a realistic child-sized townscape.  Children participate in activities designed to build self-confidence and to strengthen their ability to make safe decisions.  Students then have the opportunity to practice a variety of their newly learned safety skills in a safe environment, complete with 5/8th scale replicas of local buildings, roads with realistic pavement markings, traffic signals and street signs.

Interactive areas include an actual living room and kitchen, which illustrate various fire safety hazards such as a lighter and matches, candles, frayed electrical cords and an overloaded electrical outlet.   A child sized bedroom is equipped with a nontoxic “smoke machine” that demonstrates to students how smoke fills a room during a fire.  Children then have the opportunity to practice escaping safely from a bedroom through either their primary or backup escape route.    Pedestrian, bicycle and motor vehicle safety are taught in an outdoor environment while children operate battery powered vehicles and ride bicycles on realistic streets.   Children have the unique opportunity to practice safety skills from both youth and an adult perspective, while remaining in the safe environment of Frisco Fire Safety Town and under the watchful eye of trained educators.

Our mission is to eliminate preventable accidents and injuries.   With the generous support of local developers and businesses, we can achieve this goal with Frisco Fire Safety Town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

×

The 2007 Recipient of the Nicholas Rosecrans Award

Baltimore City Fire Department and John Hopkins School of Public Health

For their CARES Safety Center

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Injury Research and Policy and the Baltimore City Fire Department received the Nicholas Rosecrans Award, a national injury prevention award. The two groups led a partnership to create the CARES Safety Center, a 40-foot safety education vehicle. Designed as a house-on-wheels, the vehicle contains fun, interactive exhibits and low-cost safety products. Traveling throughout Baltimore City, the mobile safety center has provided more than 6,000 visitors with life-saving information about injury risks in the home and how to prevent them.

The Nicholas Rosecrans Award is given jointly by EPIC Medics, Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Laerdal Medical and the Red Flash Group. Named after Nicholas Rosecrans, a young boy who drowned in San Diego County, Calif., the award recognizes emergency responders who collaborate with agencies, organizations and citizens to promote injury prevention. The award was  presented March 10 at the EMS Today Conference and Exposition 2007 in Baltimore, Md. The conference is the largest conference in the United States for EMS providers. An upcoming issue of JEMS will also feature an article about the CARES Safety Center.

“Injuries are the leading cause of death for children and more than 1,000 Baltimore children are hospitalized each year —about three children every day— as a result of largely preventable injuries from house fires, burns, poisonings, falls and traffic accidents. This award helps shed light on the enormous public health problem of childhood injuries that we are working to address,” said Andrea C. Gielen, ScD, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy.

The CARES Safety Center, which was officially unveiled in July 2004, resembles a typical home—with a kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and stairway—to illustrate potential hazards and preventive measures. Safety educators from the Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Baltimore City Fire Department use interactive exhibits in each of the rooms to teach parents and their children how to prevent burns, falls, strangulation, poisoning and other unintended injuries. The vehicle is also equipped with an inventory of safety products, such as car safety seats, bicycle helmets, safety gates and cabinet locks, which are offered for sale at below-retail costs.

“Many people think child safety is just common sense. But, how can that be if the information isn’t common knowledge?” asked Eileen McDonald, Johns Hopkins Children’s Safety Centers program director and associate scientist in the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Families need information about risks, education about the recommended safety behaviors and access to affordable products. The mobile safety center allows us to bring all of this to families in our community.”

The mobile safety center is one of many research and service projects led by the Center for Injury Research and Policy, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. As one of only 12 CDC funded centers of excellence in injury control research, the Hopkins Injury Center advances the science and practice of injury control through its research, service and educational mission. “CARES is just one way we implement our Center’s goal of making discoveries that make a difference,” said Gielen.

Funding for the CARES Safety Center was provided by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, BP, The Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Foundation, Federal Emergency Management Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In-kind services and guidance were provided by a partnership council made up of the Maryland Institute College of Art, the Maryland Science Center, Johns Hopkins Pediatric Trauma Center, Injury Free Coalition for Kids/Baltimore and parents living in East Baltimore.

 

 

 

 

×

The 2006 Recipient of the Nicholas Rosecrans Award

The W.A.R.N. Program of Indianapolis, IN

For their leadership in water safety

The Water Awareness in Residential Neighborhoods (WARN) program, created by several Fishers and Indianapolis-area organizations, was recognized on March 22 at the 2005 EMS Today Conference in Philadelphia. WARN is a water-safety awareness program that got its start after pond drownings in Fishers and Franklin Township in the summer of 2000.

The Rosecrans Award was accepted for WARN by Ron Lipps of the Fishers Fire Department, Jerry Richert of the Franklin Township Fire Department, and Scott Bowers of CP Morgan.

The Fishers and Franklin Township fire departments created their own custom presentations shortly after the 2000 drownings, to educate residents about water safety hazards in pools, ponds and homes. Homebuilder CP Morgan saw the need for a universal water safety program, and offered to help representatives from both fire departments combine their programs into a single presentation that could be used anywhere.

“Both my department and Franklin Township looked around for a presentation we could use, but there was nothing that met our needs, so we each created our own. When CP Morgan got involved, we saw a great opportunity to help other area fire departments educate their communities,” said Fishers Fire Department Public Information Officer Ron Lipps, who represented Fishers in the creation of WARN. “Receiving an award of this magnitude certainly exceeds anything we ever thought would happen with WARN.”

Lipps worked with Jerry Richert of the Franklin Township Fire Department and Scott Bowers of CP Morgan to build a coalition of fire departments and businesses that dedicated time and resources to create the WARN presentation kit. This coalition included:

    – Brownsburg Fire Department

    – Carmel Fire Department

    – Plainfield Fire Department

    – Washington Township (Avon) Fire Department

    – Wayne Township (Marion County) Fire Department

    – Emmis Communications

    – IdeaAvenue

    – Schneider Engineering

    – YMCA

The presentation kit includes two copies of a video, a CD with adult and child oriented Powerpoint presentations, and handouts for adults and children. The WARN website (www.warnonline.org) also provides some basic information and resources for presenters and the general public.

WARN currently has about 50 member organizations in at least 10 states, and continues to grow.

 

 

 

 

×

The 2005 Recipient of the Nicholas Rosecrans Award

Eric Morrison of MEDIC

For leadership in injury prevention

 

Eric Morrison began his career in EMS as a volunteer EMT, eventually becoming a paramedic for Mecklenburg EMS Agency, better known as MEDIC. In the year 2000, MEDIC demonstrated its commitment to the community it serves by creating the position of Community Relations Coordinator, to oversee local injury prevention efforts. Eric functions in this role yet continues to work as a paramedic in the streets of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Over the past three years, he has been instrumental in guiding injury prevention efforts in Mecklenburg County. In selecting Eric for the honor, judges cited his work and Medic’s Community Relations program as “the national model for others in EMS to emulate.”

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children ages 5 to 15 in Mecklenburg. In his 10 years of EMS service, Eric has responded to thousands of car crashes and, tragically, Eric noticed a large number of injury crashes involved children not properly restrained in car seats.  So, he put together an Injury Prevention Team of field paramedics that staff two permanent Car Seat Fitting Stations.  They have inspected and installed more than 1,000 car seats. The same Injury Prevention Team also teaches teens in driver education classes, conducts bicycle safety rodeos, teaches a program called “Kid Tips” targeted to childcare providers about injury prevention, and appeared in several Public Service Announcements scripted by Eric himself.

Next on Eric’s agenda-Senior falls, which accounted for the highest percentage of injuries to the elderly. To combat these injuries, Eric put into place two programs, “Remembering When” and “Scouting for Dangers in the Home”, a program that has trained boy scout troops to conduct home safety inspections for over 4,000 seniors.

Eric is one paramedic who is truly making a difference in his community.

 

 

 

 

 

×

The 2004 Recipient of the Nicholas Rosecrans Award

Vince Easevoli, Florida SAFE Program

For his leadership in auto safety programming

 

In Vince Easevoli’s 20 years as a firefighter/paramedic for Miami Dade Fire Rescue, he has responded to nearly every imaginable call for help.  However, he noticed a disproportionate number of calls involving teenagers and tragic car crashes.  And, there seemed to be a common denominator: the teens were not wearing seat belts.

In 1987 Vince decided to stop the cycle of preventable injuries and deaths.  With the help of fellow firefighter/paramedic Ralph Jiminez and others, Vince started  S.A.F.E., Stay Alive From Education.

There was a lot of work to be done; Unintentional injuries continues to be the leading cause of death for Floridians ages 1 through 34.  Seat belt use statewide was only 58%, well below the nationwide average.

The goal of the S.A.F.E. program is to offer young adults information which will allow them to make educated and rational decisions concerning their safety and well-being, thus reducing injuries and fatalities, giving them the opportunity to become responsible and healthy adults.

SAFE Program instructors, all experienced paramedics, use a hands on approach to teach students about the consequences of irresponsible actions.  Students learn about crash dynamics, and participate in dramatic demonstrations of what happens to trauma patients. 

Since the programs start in Dade county, it has grown to include teams in 6 other counties in Florida, as well as teams in California and New Jersey.

On average, over 55,000 students attend the SAFE program each year.  The Univeristy of Miami recently conducted a study on Florida SAFE’s effectiveness and documented a dramatic increase in seatbelt use by SAFE graduates.

We honor you-Vince Easovoli and Florida SAFE! Congratulations

 

 

 

 

×