NORTHFIELD — Pioneer Valley Regional School students heard from Dr. Gerald Beltran, regional EMS medical director at Baystate Health in Springfield, about his career and the field of emergency medicine on Wednesday.
Beltran highlighted potential immediate emergency actions and the involved process of a 9-1-1 call.
When you call 9-1-1, “it involves everyone from the call taker all the way to the people at the hospital,” he said.
When an emergency call is placed, it is initially picked up by someone at a public safety access point. This is where the caller is asked, “What is the nature of your emergency and location?” Beltran said. After assessing the situation, the call is forwarded to Police and Fire departments, as well as local Emergency Medical Services (EMS) departments. Typically, these departments will ask again about the situation and location to determine the level of services needed.
Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) must assess the need to provide Basic Life Support (BLS) or Advanced Life Support (ALS) depending on the situation. BLS ambulances are staffed by EMT caregivers and provide transport to patients who require basic monitoring — including medical or surgical patients who do not require cardiac monitoring. ALS ambulances are staffed by paramedics and transport patients requiring a higher level of monitoring — including the need for invasive procedures with needles, ventilators or other devices, and cardiac monitoring.
Beltran asked students for examples of real-life situations or accidents requiring a call for emergency care. He provided an example of cardiac arrest, saying it is a common response for ambulances and EMS members.
“At some point, 10 to 20 percent of you will need to do CPR on someone,” Beltran said to the high school class.
Beltran received his master’s degree in public health from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2012. He earned his doctorate in osteopathic medicine from the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine, in 2006. He is also an associate professor of emergency medicine at the UMass Medical School Baystate Campus.
Additionally, as a part-time police officer, Beltran said he uses his EMT skills nearly every day on the job. Some Western Massachusetts police departments, including Springfield and Belchertown, require officers to be EMT-certified, but this is not the case for all departments, he said.
“I could spend 30 to 40 minutes with a patient before an ambulance would arrive,” Beltran said.
Students also learned about the appropriate application of a tourniquet. Always apply a tourniquet so it can be pulled inward, in case the injured person needs to hold it or apply it themselves, Beltran advised. Furthermore, it is important to use a wider material or fabric, if possible. While a small material, like a shoelace, can work if necessary, it can also risk more tissue and muscle damage.
With opioid and narcotic abuse prevalent nationwide, Beltran discussed signs of an overdose. He noted that even if Narcan or Naloxone is administered, a patient must be taken to a hospital as the overdose reversal drugs don’t take long to wear off and the drugs remaining in a person’s system can still leave them at risk of an overdose.
Beltran noted that Narcan only counteracts narcotic drugs, like heroin. Thus, he said he has seen cases where a patient used another drug concurrently, like methamphetamine, which caused them to lash out aggressively while in the ambulance and at the hospital after the Narcan wore off.
“Working in medicine can be very difficult,” Beltran said, “but it is very rewarding.”
There are plans for the Pioneer emergency care class students to become CPR-certified with instruction from Northfield EMS members and the school nurse, according to teacher Ernest Abramian. He also hopes to give students the opportunity to become American Medical Response (AMR) certified, so they can shadow local EMS members.
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 264.