SMCS honors EMS teams from 10 communities

Springfield Medical Care Systems honored 70 local emergency medical staff and volunteers, on Tuesday, May 19, at a dinner at Crown Point Country Club, in celebration of Emergency Medical Services Week, May 17  through May 23 .

“We want to recognize and thank each of you for the work you do, putting yourself on the line day and night as first responders, in serving the emergency needs of our residents,” Tim Ford, chief executive officer of SMCS told those gathered. “You provide a valuable service and, on behalf of the SMCS organization and our communities, we want to thank you and your families for your dedication to responding to the calls for emergency services.”

The organizations honored are:

• Bellows Falls Fire Department,
• Chester Ambulance Service,
• Golden Cross Ambulance Inc.,
• Grafton Rescue Squad,
• Londonderry Volunteer Rescue Squad,
• Ludlow Ambulance Squad,
• Rockingham Rescue,
• Saxtons River First Responder Rescue,
• Springfield Fire Department Ambulance and
• Westminster Volunteer Fire and Rescue.

After dinner, a presentation  titled “Adverse Childhood Experiences: Building a Healthy Community,” was given by Dr. Adam Ameele, director of SMCS Behavioral Health Services, and Bill Brown, MA, CMHC, HCRS Adult Outpatient Services.

Ameele said, “Our goal … is to share information about developmental trauma and the role it may play for adults and children in the situations you face in your emergency response situations. The role trauma and toxic stress play in brain development, and their impact on an individual’s response mechanisms later in life, can be an important consideration in emergency response situations.”

SMCS is partnering with several local organizations with a mission to “Build a healthy community using trauma-informed prevention, education and consultation.”  One piece of this work includes reaching out to local behavioral health professionals and EMS teams to share information about developmental trauma as a first step in developing community-wide partnerships and collaboration in this effort.

For more information about the Adverse Childhood Experiences workgroup or to participate in this effort, contact Anna Smith at Springfield Medical Care Systems, 802-885-7621 or email annasmith@springfieldmed.org, or Trevor Hanbridge of the SMCS Community Health Team at 802-886-8998 or email thanbridge@springfieldmed.org.