Center Dedicates Paramedic Base Station

Western Medical Center-Santa Ana on Wednesday officially dedicated its regional paramedic base station, one of six in the county where nurses and doctors communicate by radio with paramedics in the field.

The base station, which actually began operating Jan. 6, connects paramedics with a specially trained nurse who advises them how to treat patients and where to take them. The problems may range from minor illnesses to life-threatening injuries.

For years, the sixth station was operated by UCI Medical Center, but officials there advised the county a year ago that they would have to close it because of mounting debts at the hospital. Soon after the radio room was closed, however, UCI decided it wanted the base station back and reapplied to the county.

Regional Trauma Center

County supervisors voted 3 to 2 last September to award the base station contract to Western Medical Center.

Western Medical Center also operates one of the county’s four regional trauma centers, where paramedics take patients who have life-threatening injuries. About 10% of the 500 to 750 monthly calls to the Western Medical Center radio base station involve trauma cases, hospital officials said.

Western Medical Center trained 10 of its nurses to work in the base station and hired five radio-trained nurses from other hospitals, said Dr. Carolyn Nelson Hardy, base station director.

Emergency physicians on staff at the hospital also were trained, and the base station nurse consults them for difficult cases, said Lynn Ballash, department manager for emergency services.