Labette Health Emergency Medical Services

Labette Health Emergency Medical Services (LH EMS) is a county-wide Advanced Life Support (ALS) transport EMS system that serves all of Labette County and a portion of Neosho and Cherokee Counties in Kansas and Craig County, Oklahoma. Labette Health EMS responds to approximately 3,500 requests for service annually with calls ranging from medical emergencies and trauma calls to significant rescue situations and disasters. The current service has operated as the county-wide service for fifteen years and is the exclusive EMS provider for Labette County.

The service operates out of two stations: station one in Parsons covers the northern and western parts of the Labette Health EMS jurisdiction and station two covers the southern and eastern portion of the jurisdiction. Station one is staffed with two on-duty crews and one reserve ambulance. The technical/water rescue trailer, Major Incident Response Unit and administrative offices are also located in Parsons. Station one also houses a "Gator" response vehicle that is used for special events and rescue situations. Station two, located in Oswego, houses one on-duty crew and one reserve ambulance. Additionally, Labette Health EMS houses a reserve ambulance at the Altamont Fire Department in the center of the County.

Each crew is configured with at least one Paramedic and an Emergency Medical Technician ensuring a consistency in patient care. The medical crews enjoy standing order protocols and are very involved in the development of new protocols and procedures. Some of the newer, more advanced procedures in use at Labette Health EMS are Rapid Sequence Intubation, Adult Intraosseous Infusion, 12-Lead EKGs and Surgical Cricothyrotomy. In addition to good protocols, the staff has excellent equipment to work with. A late-model, modern fleet of vehicles is just the tip of the iceberg. In addition to the vehicles, the staff enjoys the latest Zoll “E” series 12-lead EKG monitors, Stryker Power Lift cots, electronic patient care reporting, state-of-the-art communication equipment and much, much more. The medical staff all work 24 hour shifts and are led by a Captain on each shift. The Captain is a Paramedic. Additionally, one of the three chief officers is on call 24 hours a day to respond and direct operations as needed.

Labette Health EMS, like many other EMS agencies, has gone through a significant change since September 11, 2001. Not only is regular medical and trauma patient training required but weapons of mass destruction, mass casualty incident, hazardous materials and incident command training have become regular topics not only in the EMS Department but with first-responder agencies throughout Labette County. Labette Health EMS and the Parsons Fire Department have both been equipped and cross trained with Hazardous Materials and Mass Casualty units that can be deployed regionally and jointly house half of the Southeast Kansas Regional Rescue Team. Labette Health EMS' Mass Casualty Incident Unit is equipped to treat 50 patients on scene and prepare them for transport. It also boasts a mobile command/communications center and is equipped with a full cache of incident/medical command paraphernalia.

In addition to the medical response Labette Health EMS provides, personnel also respond on all fire, hazardous material and special rescue incidents in their jurisdiction. Nine fire department/first responder agencies provide additional EMS response in Labette County. All nine departments follow the same protocols and have identical EMS equipment which aids in training and mutual aid responses that occur frequently. Training for the EMS Department and for other departments is provided through our two certified EMS Instructor/Coordinators and our eight certified EMS Training Officers.

We work very closely with the Labette Heath Emergency Department, a Level III Trauma Center.  The EMS and ER Medical Directors both interact with the EMS crews on a daily basis providing immediate feedback.  Occasionally, the EMS crews are asked to help in the ER which only bolsters the close relationship.  We also work closely with area air medical providers to ensure rapid transport from the scene to a tertiary care center as needed.  Most areas of the county have an air medical helicopter less than 20 minutes away.  Labette Health EMS is dispatched through the Labette County 911 center in Oswego.  The communications center provides all emergency communications for EMS and Fire units in the county and utilizes both EMD and EFD protocols.

Labette Health EMS is a very proud organization providing outstanding patient care and a level of service rarely found in most public safety agencies.