EMS study touted by firefighters union draws flak

VIRGINIA BEACH -- The firefighters union said on Monday they have a study that shows heart attack victims in Norfolk are more than twice as likely to be alive by the time they get to a hospital than cardiac victims in Virginia Beach.

 City and state emergency medical services officials, however, criticized the study, calling it unscientific and flawed.

 The study, conducted by Norfolk Battalion Chief David B. Palmer for a graduate class in public administration, shows that for a one-year period between March 1998 and February 1999, 44 percent of heart attack victims transported by Norfolk EMS arrived at the hospital with a pulse and heartbeat.

 In Virginia Beach, 17 percent of heart attack victims transported by the volunteer rescue squad arrived at the hospital with a pulse and heartbeat. In Portsmouth, the only other city included in the study, 21 percent still had a pulse and heartbeat upon arrival at the hospital.

 The remaining patients in all three cities arrived at hospitals clinically dead. However, some still may have been revived in the emergency room.

 The firefighters union is using Palmer's study in its fight to lobby for improvements to the city EMS system. They want a firefighter cross-trained as a paramedic on every fire truck, medication and medical equipment on every truck, and for all firefighter-paramedics to be allowed to use those drugs and equipment.

 City officials have said they are moving to get life-saving drugs on every fire truck and to hire more firefighters.

 Union members admit the study is unscientific, but they maintain that the numbers indicate Virginia Beach needs to look at improving its emergency medical care.

 ``If Norfolk's rate can be 44 percent, we believe it is incumbent upon Virginia Beach to look at how to achieve a rate higher than 17 percent,'' said union member John Anderson, a firefighter-paramedic.

 Union members admit that even 17 percent is within the acceptable range set by the American Heart Association.

 Ed Brazle, a spokesman for Virginia Beach EMS, said Palmer's findings are flawed because he did not compare ``apples to apples.''

 For example, Virginia Beach comprises more than 300 square miles, compared with Norfolk's 65. That means longer response times at the Beach. The study also did not consider the age of patients, whether early CPR was done before the ambulance arrived, or whether patients were suffering other trauma or on drugs.

 Brazle also pointed out that there were 158 patients studied in Norfolk and 283 in Virginia Beach. Palmer also relied on hospital records to research the Norfolk patients, but received only verbal data from Beach EMS.

 Gary Brown, director of the state Office of Emergency Medical Services, said there are no studies on survival rates for ambulance companies anywhere in the state. However, the state is about to conduct a detailed study of EMS services, he said.

 Brown agreed with Brazle that Palmer's study is flawed without the inclusions of variables that affect emergency care.

 ``I would question the study in connection with the source of the actual data,'' Brown said. ``You have to look at response times, previous medical condition. There are dozens of medical conditions that can skew data.''

 Brown also said he knows of no complaints of delayed response times or inadequate patient care against any Beach EMS squad.