When North Texas was hit by record cold, snow and ice last month, MedStar Mobile Healthcare responded to a record number of calls. The ambulance provider based in Fort Worth and 14 other cities responded to 3,484 calls between February 14 and February 20.
MedStar received an average of 21 calls per hour, compared to an average of about 12 calls per hour.
"It was certainly a record-setting week for MedStar's crews and all of our personnel," says MedStar's Matt Zavadsky.
During that week, Zavadsky says MedStar responded to 211 hypothermia calls, transporting 121 people to the hospital. MedStar had 33 calls for carbon monoxide poisoning affecting 24 patients; 14 of those 24 were taken to the hospital. Another 105 people called with problems because their power was out.
"It was very much a triage situation. Not all 911 calls are the same," Zavadsky says. "The call for somebody who's having chest pain with difficulty breathing is a different type of response than a 911 caller who says, 'My power is out. I can't get my oxygen concentrator to work, and I don't know how to use my back-up tank. Can someone come out and help me?'"
In some cases, Zavadsky says a single paramedic might respond to help with equipment problems, but in many, he says an ambulance was still needed. He says MedStar also had extra crews on duty.
In addition, Zavadsky says MedStar rented hotel rooms so paramedics would be able to reach work; others stayed at MedStar's headquarters because electricity or running water had been cut at their home or hotel.
"We actually turned some of our classrooms into housing facilities, not only for our personnel but for their families," he says. "It's hard to ask first responders to come to work every day when their families are struggling with not having electricity, not having water."
Across North Texas, several ambulances were hit while responding to calls last month, including one MedStar ambulance at the crash on I-35W February 11. Zavadksy says two ambulances got stuck responding to calls and needed cities to lay down sand.
