FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                   

Contact:   Captain Dave Wheaton, Lee County Public Safety/EMS
                (941) 335-1661, or Chris Hansen, 335-1604

LEE EMS CELEBRATES EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE WEEK AND 30^TH ANNIVERSARY

FORT MYERS, Fla. (May 15, 2002) – Lee County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is celebrating its 30^th Anniversary this year, and as part of that will be accepting a resolution from the Board of Lee County Commissioners Tuesday (May 21) declaring May 19 through May 25 as Emergency Medical Service Week in Lee County. 

Emergency medical personnel often are the first contact many residents and visitors to Florida have with the health care system, and these personnel provide education, assessment, prevention, and referral services in addition to their emergency activities. 

Lee EMS was established in 1972 with four ambulances and about a dozen employees. 

Today, the agency’s 200+ employees cover 1,000 square miles with 25 Advanced Life Support ambulances and a twin-engine helicopter.  Paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), under the direction of Emergency Physicians, provide emergency medical treatment and transport to more than 50,000 Lee County citizens and visitors each year.  The agency’s annual operating budget is $21.4 million. 

Because of the unique geographic layout of the county, with a number of barrier islands, the rotor-wing ambulance program was established in 1978.  This twin-engine helicopter makes the inaccessible areas accessible and allows EMS to provide quick response to emergencies and the rapid transport of patients to area hospitals. 

In the last couple of years, Lee County EMS has instituted a number of innovations, including: 

§         Establishing a countywide Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Program and placing more than 50 AEDs in public facilities that have heavy use by residents and visitors. 

§         Recently purchasing state-of-the-art Defibrillator/Heart Monitor/Pacing equipment for its ambulances and handheld computers to more accurately capture patient data and generate “paperless” run reports. 

§         Forming an EMS Paramedic Bicycle Response Team for quicker response at large events such as parades and festivals. 

In addition, Lee EMS has undertaken an aggressive expansion plan in the last two years, hiring more than 80 paramedics and recently opening new stations at a pace of one every two months to keep up with the area’s explosive growth.  To learn more about Lee County EMS, visit its web site at www.lee-county.com/ps/EMS/.