Paramedics
Advanced Life Support (ALS)
In 1982, Emerson Hospital had an idea, a revolutionary concept that has saved the lives of numerous men, women and children ever since. The idea was to create a service that would go into the community to administer advanced life support (ALS) treatment to a patient at the scene of an emergency - at home, at work or at the site of an accident.
That first year, Emerson's pioneering Advanced Life Support program - the first of its kind in Massachusetts - treated 129 patients.
Today, Emerson's teams of paramedics treat more than 1,700 people annually, serving community residents in 13 towns.
Since a number of emergency calls involve a potential heart attack, ALS paramedics at Emerson also utilize the most advanced medical technology available to help diagnose victims of heart attack before they get to the hospital.
Our Advanced Life Support program is part of an excellent two-tier emergency response system available in the towns surrounding Emerson Hospital. The first tier of the system is a town-supported ambulance service based at the fire station that is staffed by emergency medical technicians (EMT-Ds) who are trained in basic life support procedures. These emergency care providers can be at the home or scene of an accident within minutes.
