About Emergency Medical Services
Emergency Medical Services is the division of Jackson County Emergency Services responsible for the delivery of prehospital care to the citizens and visitors of Jackson County. Each ambulance is staffed by two individuals, most often two Paramedics (but sometimes a Paramedic and EMT). This two person team is the more commonly termed "ambulance drivers" to the general public, however, their responsibilities and the role they serve is far greater than that of any driver.

Emergency Medical Services staffs six advanced life support ambulances that are stationed throughout the county. Responding to more than 6,000 emergency calls in 2009, full-time employees work a rotating shift schedule where they work twenty-four hours and they are off for forty-eight hours. This schedule staffs all six county ambulances twenty-four hours a day, three hundred and sixty five days a year. Ambulances respond to all emergency medical incidents such as strokes, chest pains, sick calls or automobile accidents where EMT's and Paramedics provide care to the sick and injured before and during transport to the hospital.

Back in the early days of EMS, ambulances were operated by the funeral homes in the county. There was no formal training back then for those who rode these ambulances. The main goal of this type of service was to get the sick and injured to the hospital as quickly as possible. Today, the back of the ambulance is often referred to as a "mobile emergency room". EMT's and Paramedics receive over one thousand hours of classroom and hands-on training to prepare them for the emergencies they face when responding to calls for help.

An EMT certification is the basic requirement for employment with Jackson County EMS. EMT's are trained in basic life support and management skills such as IV therapy, basic airway management,  splinting, bandaging, bleeding control, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), spinal immobilization, and ventilatory management. EMT's can administer some medications and they may also assist a patient with some of his or her prescribed medications. Before an individual can begin school to become a Paramedic, they must have obtained an EMT certification.

A Paramedic is the highest skilled and trained medical care provider outside of the hospital (prehospital care provider). Paramedics are responsible for numerous different facets of prehospital emergency care including anything from basic splinting techniques learned as an EMT to synchronized cardioversion; a procedure where a Paramedic delivers a specific amount of electricity to a person's heart when he or she recognizes a cardiac condition that must be immediately corrected. Paramedics in Jackson County are capable of administering over forty-five different medications to patients with conditions where certain medications are warranted. Paramedics interpret 12-lead ECG's, insert and manage advanced airway devices, perform needle-chest decompressions, and numerous other advanced life support skills. At present, of the thirty-six full-time employees, thirty-three are licensed Paramedics and two are currently in school to become Paramedics. With this amount of dedicated and experienced Paramedics, Jackson County is able to provide some of the most advanced and progressive prehospital care to the citizens and visitors of Jackson County.

EMT's and Paramedics with Jackson County EMS operate under the direction of Medical Director Kirk Brown. Dr. Brown is an Emergency Room Physician with BJC Medical Center in Commerce, GA. Dr. Brown serves Jackson County by reviewing and establishing protocols that guide the majority of care that is provided by EMS employees. Dr. Brown assists with the quality assurance/improvement program, which reviews documentation and care provided by employees, ensuring every patient at the hands of Jackson County EMS is receiving the quality care they deserve.

Jackson County EMT's and Paramedics are some of the highest trained, educated and dedicated individuals in EMS. Jackson County EMS has long held the reputation of providing excellent, top tier emergency care to all of its patients. This is largely in part to the experienced and dedicated staff, but a great deal of our service's success rests on the progressiveness and forward thought that our department strives for. Over the last several years, Jackson County EMS has begun implementing treatment guidelines and therapies that coincide with technological advancements made in EMS through research and investigation of common EMS practices. Please visit What is new at Jackson EMS to learn more about the new, up and coming changes within our service.