Mid Georgia Ambulance Saves Lives by Phone

A matter of seconds could be the difference between a life or death situation. 

Mid Georgia Ambulance is training dispatchers to provide patient care over the phone, while an ambulance is on the way.

“Most people can’t hold their breath for a couple seconds, so seconds do count. The instructions that the dispatchers give are live saving instructions to keep a person going until the ambulance and paramedics get there,” said MGA IT Manager, Todd Allen.

“Every call we accept, we impact people’s lives and hopefully we have good outcomes and we save lives.”

Allen says they’re not life savers, but life impacters.

The dispatcher’s purpose is to determine the emergency, collect the necessary information, offer treatment and send help.

Lights and sirens are dispatched as soon as the emergency call comes in. However, while the clock is ticking and help is on the way, it’s the dispatcher’s duty to keep the person with the emergency alive.

“It may be a minute before the ambulance gets there. I have trouble holding my breath for a minute. So I just want to make sure they’re helped until the ambulance gets there.”