Small-Town Ambulance Offers Advanced Services 

"We want to provide the best care we can to our communities," said Darrell Fisher, emergency medical services (EMS) chief with New Holland EMS. "That's the envelope we wanted to push, and we feel we can push that further." That metaphoric envelope was pushed a bit further this spring when New Holland EMS, 101 E. Franklin St., New Holland, added Advanced Life Support (ALS) services at both New Holland and Leola stations on March 1 and blood services on May 19. 

Until six years ago, the organization provided Basic Life Support. "In 2019, we upgraded to Intermediate Life Support (ILS), which is a stepping stone," said Fisher. The move to ALS required the presence of paramedics - who joined the force as of Jan. 1; it also required training and a separate vehicle from an outside health system. "We get to control the level of care the medics provide," he said.

Using grant funds, the New Holland EMS purchased the ALS squad vehicles and the additional heart monitors, ventilators, and IV medication pumps. "Some of that (equipment) is more advanced than we have had," said Fisher, who noted that one paramedic and an ALS car are present at each station at all times. "They back each other up, so if there's a severe call in either territory, you could have two paramedics for a really critical call." According to Fisher, one benefit of the arrangement is having the paramedics available to train volunteers on a regular basis. "This allows us to have our internal medics walk with our volunteer providers," he stated. "Our paramedics make our volunteers better," added Fisher, who noted that the volunteers just "soak up" what they learn from the paramedics. "When (a team) comes back from a call, they debrief and talk about what went well or didn't go well, so now they have that feedback."

The ability to offer blood products to area residents in need is a significant upgrade in service, according to Fisher. "(This service) is brand new, and it's a pretty big deal," he stated, adding that New Holland is the first in the county and in the Emergency Health Services Federation, which encompasses several counties in south central Pennsylvania, to offer this service. Having blood products available on an emergency basis is especially important when a patient is hemorrhaging or going into shock. "We have the blood product before going to the emergency department," said Fisher. "If we are able to get that blood product into (a patient) before they get to the emergency room, that chance of survival skyrockets."

Keeping blood products available requires special equipment. "We had to buy blood coolers approved by the blood bank and the transfusion equipment," stated Fisher, who noted that blood supplies are returned to the blood bank every 48 hours. "It's super high maintenance because blood is scarce," noted Fisher. "We follow a zero waste policy, so if we don't use it, it goes back to be used." According to Fisher, only about 2% of ground transport EMS agencies provide prehospital blood transfusions. "We are the sixth 911-dispatched ALS agency in the state to have blood products for emergency 911 calls," Fisher stated. He added that every minute of delay in administering prehospital blood to a trauma patient increases mortality by 11%.

Fisher stated that New Holland partners with Penn Medicine and that the assigned medical director is Dr. Brendan Mulcahy. "His passion is about increasing the quality of care in EMS," shared Fisher. "He helps us push the envelope." According to Fisher, Mulcahy puts in many hours training with the New Holland team.

"Being able to provide that quality is something we're super excited about for little New Holland," Fisher said, adding that a lot of the equipment the organization utilizes exceeds state standards. "We are trying to do big EMS in a little town." Fisher emphasized that New Holland EMS has no intention of growing bigger, only better. "Our goal is to provide our community the best care we possibly can," he added, noting that both volunteers and paramedics share that passion for improvement. 

New Holland EMS is celebrating its 80th anniversary. The organization was founded by the New Holland Lions Club, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. "Case New Holland, which was Sperry at the time, bought the first ambulance," noted Fisher. More information is available at http://www.newhollandambulance.com.