ER seminar eyes major changes

Jeffrey Libby

Thursday, Sept. 21, 2000 | 11:24 a.m.

By working with the resources the Las Vegas Valley already has in place, health officials should be able to gain ground on "the worst emergency room crisis" in the nation, according to a new report.

The report released Wednesday calls for major changes in emergency response procedures within 30 days. The report is a result of a Friday seminar attended by more than 70 representatives from hospitals, the Clark County Health District, ambulance services and fire departments.

"We're looking at major solutions rather than managing the problem," said Mike Williams, president of Abaris Group, a Northern California medical consulting company which organized the conference at the request of local ambulance company American Medical Response. "We need a whole paradigm shift."

Those changes center around relieving a bottleneck at emergency rooms that impedes the flow of incoming patients. Though many factors contribute to the problem, Williams said that as much as 70 percent of patients delivered by ambulance don't need emergency care.

That, combined with a surging population and a steady stream of tourists, has forced hospitals to divert patients around the valley as much as 40 percent of the time in recent months.

Ambulance personnel often wait with patients at emergency rooms as much as two hours before a bed becomes available. The industry average is 25 minutes.

With the flu season on the horizon, the situation is only expected to get worse.

Williams recommended restructuring emergency dispatch procedures so ambulances can be rerouted to alternative urgent care facilities for nonemergency calls.

Other recommendations include developing uniform guidelines for diverting patients and improving communications between emergency dispatch services and hospitals so that patients are sent to the hospital that can best meet their needs.

Jane Shunney, acting program manager of emergency medical services for the health district, doesn't believe the changes can be affected within 30 days, but she is optimistic that hospital service will improve.

"We as a community have looked at the whole situation prior to this only from the emergency medical services point of view. We have reached a new level of concern. I think we have talked, and the community can change both internally -- within the hospital -- and in the emergency medical system," Shunney said.