Community Ambulance certified for critical care transfers

The critical care team with Community Ambulance Service will be deployed when a patient in a hospital has healthcare needs that exceed the current emergency medical service standards for advanced life support. (Submitted photo)
From staff reports

Venango County’s Community Ambulance Service has been licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health to provide critical care transportation from hospital to hospital.

The critical care team will be deployed when a patient in a hospital has healthcare needs that exceed the current emergency medical service standards for advanced life support, according to a press release from the ambulance service.

Community Ambulance has on staff pre-hospital registered nurses and critical care paramedics to provide advanced care. The team will be working from an ambulance that is licensed for critical care and carries specialized equipment for those missions.

Tim Fletcher, director of operations for Community Ambulance Service, said critical care certification goes above and beyond the standard of advanced life support training.

Community Ambulance personnel have received specialized training in certain areas to provide care such as specialty medication drips, sedation, ventilator support, monitoring blood products and chest tubes.

The team will be comprised of an emergency medical technician, critical care paramedics and pre-hospital registered nurses.

“Under our ‘Caring for our Community’ initiative we feel this will help our community by providing the best care when being transferred from our local hospital to an upgrade in care hospital such as in Erie or Pittsburgh,” Fletcher said.

Community Ambulance Service has been serving the Venango County region for 51 years.