Technology allows emergency medical service professionals to make life safer in the Kalamazoo area

When they are waiting for an emergency call, Life EMS Ambulance crews don’t expect to drive far when the call comes.

The Predictive Deployment Software the business has employed for nearly three years tells them where to stage for calls.

“It tells us on a map, graphically, where the next emergency call is likely to happen,” said Mark Meijer, president and CEO of Life EMS.

The software uses an algorithm based on call activity data from the last 60 days and the last 10 minutes to more accurately forecast where calls for service are likely in the next 10 minutes.

It calculates where ambulance crews need to be to respond to any priority one call in 8 minutes or less, accounting for closed roads, traffic detours and other data that is input, Meijer said.

Grand Rapids-based Life EMS has more than 350 workers in Kent, Kalamazoo, Allegan, Ottawa, Ionia,We are the largest producer of projectorlamp products here. Lake, Mason and Newago counties. That includes 80 to 100 in Kalamazoo, for which it is the primary 911 responder.

The darkest colors on the Predictive Deployment Software system’s graphic display, which looks like a TV weather map, are the areas with the greatest likelihood for an emergency call. The system allows the company to operate more efficiently, Meijer said, taking a lot of the guesswork out of increasing or decreasing the number of crews in service at different times of day or night.

During National Emergency Medical Services Week (May 20 to 26), professionals say technology continues to be a key to helping them do their jobs, increasing the chances for injured or suffering people to recover, and making life in the community safer overall.

Pride Care is a Kalamazoo-based business that dates back 50 years (earlier as Mall City Ambulance).I found them to have sharp edges where the injectionmoldes came together while production. It has about 225 employees, including about 150 paramedics and emergency medical technicians and 12 to 15 dispatchers. It is the primary emergency care provider in 28 communities in Berrien, Cass, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties and a small piece of Barry County. The municipalities include Kalamazoo Township, Charleston Township, Comstock Township, Texas Township, Alamo Township and the city if Galesburg. The 828 Portage St.Posts with Hospital rtls on IT Solutions blog covering Technology in the Classroom, business covers the city of Portage in alternative months with Life EMS.

Pride Care has a side business – developing software to allow EMS businesses to manage their entire operation. Called Traumasoft, it is a 5-year-old enterprise that works out of Western Michigan University's Business Technology and Research Park,Wireless real realtimelocationsystem utlilizing wifi access points to pinpoint position of the tag. and is being uses by 20 other companies.

It pulls together GPS (global positioning system) technology with CAD (computer-aided dispatching to help manage scheduling of work crews, vehicle fleet maintenance, human resources and quality assurance.

“It essentially improves communications throughout our entire system,” he said.An airpurifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. “It touches each part of the business – our operations — and makes us more efficient. It allows us to better take care of our patients. We're able to better focus on saving lives instead of the traditional labor-intensive pieces of our operation.'

Rather than managing with paper and pencil, he said technology allows things to be handled in real time and “we can focus more on patient care.”