Program areas at REMSCO
Emergency preparedness program: this program was organized in response to cascading effects of major events like the 2004 new york city blackout as well as the world trade center attack. An important part of this program was the development and implementation of a mental health critical incident response team (cirt). The cirt offers intervention, peer support, and referral services to assist Ems personnel in dealing with emotional stress that can be associated with catastrophic, as well as routine response calls. Cbrne (chemical, biological, radioactive, nuclear, and explosive) educational programs provide training at both awareness and operational levels. Emergency planning activities include participating in citywide exercises in cooperation with counterpart agencies, such as tabletop and real-time drills of potential man-made or natural disaster occurrences.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation standards and certification (cpr): responsible for cardiopulmonary resuscitation programs based on the guidelines set by the american heart association, acting as a training center for the american heart association, new york city/ long island affiliate.
The Regional emergency medical services Council of Nyc provides oversight of the Nyc Ems system that annually serves 10 million people who live, work and visit new york city. Oversight ranges from routine requirements such as creating and implementing medical protocols, operational policies and procedures, and quality assurance, to disaster preparedness planning.
The Regional emergency medical advisory committee ("remac") was established to provide medical control and physician oversight for the Ems system as well as ongoing development of policy, procedure, triage, treatment, and transportation protocols that are consistent with standards set by new york state medical advisory committee, but that also address the needs that are unique to the urban landscape of new york city. Remac's responsibility includes creation and implementation of routine as well as disaster protocols and the credentialing of Ems personnel and physicians to operate and function in a standardized manner.
The Nyc remsco mental health team was developed to provide emotional and mental health support to Ems workers and educational services to promote provider wellness. The team is comprised of multidisciplinary trained volunteers consisting of mental health professionals, emts, paramedics, and clergy. Upon completion of the three-day group and individual crisis intervention ("grin") course, team members are certified in critical incident stress management ("cism") and question/persuade/refer ("qpr"). Under the direction of the clinical coordinator and mental health coordinator, team members provide quick response crisis intervention services designed to mitigate the effects of stress during and after a critical incident or event as well as pre-incident education. Critical incidents are any situations faced by emergency service personnel that causes unusually strong reactions that have the potential to interfere with their ability to function at the scene or afterwards, while they are on or off duty. Examples of critical incidents include line of duty death, suicide, multi-casualty incidents, and death or violence to a child.there are currently seventy-five Ems and licensed mental health professionals on the team, fourteen qpr instructors, and seven practices/clinicians who are on our referral list and are able to respond to medium to large scale critical incidents. Our services include:pre-incident education: informs personnel about what to expect before and after a critical incident. This also offers basic coping skills and ways to build resiliency to avoid burn out. These sessions are taught by peers and mental health professionals.one-to-one peer support: offered to providers who want to get help for reactions they experience after a critical incident. This can be done in-person or over the phone. A team member will listen and encourage effecting coping strategies and provide referrals to continued care if needed.group crisis interventions: either crisis management briefings ("cmb") or defusing's, these are group sessions that last twenty to forty-five minutes long. Working with incident command, these interventions offer information on the incident, answer any questions or concerns, and inform responders about reactions they could experience. Follow-up services are advised.referrals: the team can make referrals to mental health providers if professional treatment is necessary. We do our best to work with a provider's insurance.