Guest guest Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 Dear Friends, In a recent thread on this List Serve, this comment was made: " I think we all know that the urban FDs in Texas haven't had the best reputation for patient care... " When this comment was sent to me, I felt that I should respond. I am the Deputy EMS Medical Director, under Dr. Pepe, for the BioTel EMS System in Dallas. We are a consortium of 13 Fire-based EMS agencies. I am responsible for overseeing on the behalf of the Medical Director the areas of training, re-training, re-training for cause/remediation, and quality control, in addition to coordinating the programs for establishing protocol, equipment issues, research, and so on. I have been in this role since mid-2001, and thus have watched over the evaluation and management of some 3/4 million patients in our system since then. Every single issue regarding quality of care in the Dallas metropolitan BioTel EMS system has come across my desk during this period. I am not aware of any validity to any statement that would suggest that the 1000 or so medics operating in the BioTel system give anything but the best possible evaluation and management. Certainly in a system as large as ours, we have a " bell curve " of provider expertise that any such large system has, just as we find in emergency physician providers and other members of the medical team. However, we are very strict on our training, retraining, and Annual Reverification Examination requirements for skills maintenance and retention, and we perform quality analysis on our care to the best of our availability and resources. Finally, as a manager of EMS systems, I would say this, clearly: I would NEVER make some generalized negative statement about another EMS system in a public forum. The consideration of the other members of this forum to do likewise would be appreciated. With that said, I welcome feedback, both positive and negative, regarding our care. We try very, very hard here to do the right thing. I think that our results in these last few years speak for themselves. I apologize in advance if this note seems negative. I just remember the old oriental phrase, " praise in public, criticize in private " , and I think that that phrase is both good policy...and good manners. Best regards, Ray Fowler, MD, FACEP Deputy EMS Medical Director BioTel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 " Good manners " --what a refreshing idea. With a little encouragement it might catch on. Thanks for your very tactful and courteous reminder. Maxine Pate hire-Pattison EMS ---- Original message ---- >Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 17:40:11 -0000 > > I just remember > the old oriental phrase, " praise in public, > criticize in private " , > and I think that that phrase is both good > policy...and good manners. > > Best regards, > > Ray Fowler, MD, FACEP > Deputy EMS Medical Director > BioTel > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 " Good manners " --what a refreshing idea. With a little encouragement it might catch on. Thanks for your very tactful and courteous reminder. Maxine Pate hire-Pattison EMS ---- Original message ---- >Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 17:40:11 -0000 > > I just remember > the old oriental phrase, " praise in public, > criticize in private " , > and I think that that phrase is both good > policy...and good manners. > > Best regards, > > Ray Fowler, MD, FACEP > Deputy EMS Medical Director > BioTel > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 " Good manners " --what a refreshing idea. With a little encouragement it might catch on. Thanks for your very tactful and courteous reminder. Maxine Pate hire-Pattison EMS ---- Original message ---- >Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 17:40:11 -0000 > > I just remember > the old oriental phrase, " praise in public, > criticize in private " , > and I think that that phrase is both good > policy...and good manners. > > Best regards, > > Ray Fowler, MD, FACEP > Deputy EMS Medical Director > BioTel > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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