Pubdate: Sun, 21 Aug 2005 Source: Carlsbad Current-Argus (NM) Copyright: 2005 Carlsbad Current-Argus Contact: http://www.currentargus.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2549 Author: Stella Davis EMTS CONCERNED ABOUT LACK OF LICENSE CARLSBAD - A number of local volunteer emergency medical technicians feel that Eddy County should obtain a pharmacy license so they would be able to administer certain drugs and intravenous fluids. Eddy County is the only county in the region that does not have a pharmacy license, according to a regional emergency medical services official. But while county volunteer EMTs say the need for a pharmacy license is real, that view is not shared by Joel Arnwine, Eddy County emergency preparedness coordinator and fire marshal, who oversees the county's volunteer fire departments and their EMTs. Donnie Roberts, Region 3 EMS training coordinator in Clovis, said almost all volunteer fire department EMT personnel within Region 3 - which includes Chaves, Curry, DeBaca, Guadalupe, Harding, Lea, Lincoln, Otero, Quay, Roosevelt and Union counties - have the ability to administer certain drugs under New Mexico's Scope of Practice Act. "All of Curry, Lincoln, Roosevelt and Lea County well, everybody does except Eddy County," Roberts said. "The cities of Carlsbad and Artesia have a narcotics and clinic license." Arnwine said the county has a mutual aid agreement with the cities of Carlsbad and Artesia. "We (the county) pay a premium price to the cities of Carlsbad and Artesia to provide the service," he said. "Our volunteer fire department EMTs can respond to a call, but the Carlsbad Fire Department holds the ambulance certification, and they are the first responders, even though the volunteer fire department may be first on the scene. "In accordance with our mutual aid agreement, the volunteers may respond in their jurisdiction, but they are there to support the certified ambulance people from the city," he said. "The citizens of Eddy County receive a premium service from the Carlsbad and Artesia paramedics. They have the best service they can get." That may be, Roberts said, but in far outlying areas of the county, it takes city emergency personnel longer to get to the scene of an accident or medical call, and sometimes it is a life and death situation. "It's really sad," he said. "I have been to several meetings in Eddy County and listened to the discussions concerning the county's EMTs and their wish to apply for the pharmacy license. "It's a shame that when people in Milnesand - between Dora and Tatum, and which is in the middle of nowhere - can receive treatment from the volunteer EMTs with certain drugs and the people in Eddy County can't," he said. "The people in Eddy County deserve the same." Roberts said volunteer EMTs, if they have a pharmacy license, can administer simple types of pain medications, antibiotics, and other medications for diabetics, heart patients and drug overdose victims. "We (EMS Region 3) have helped a bunch of people to obtain their pharmacy license. They have to apply to the New Mexico Board of Pharmacy and then it has to be approved by the Drug Enforcement Agency," Roberts explained. "Most of the time the whole process takes between four to six weeks. It can be as long as two months if there is a holdup with the DEA." According to an application form, the annual cost of a pharmacy license is $50 for an entity such as the county or $25 a year for an individual volunteer fire department. Arnwine said it would be up to the Eddy County Commission to decide whether the EMTs should be pharmacy licensed. n n n Malaga Volunteer Fire Department EMTs Samantha Burkham and Nadine Kuhn said they believe it is important for EMTs to be able to administer drugs, given the distance between Carlsbad and Malaga. "The response time for the city of Carlsbad is at best 20 minutes, and that's if they can find the area out in the county," Burkham said. "We are not the only two EMTs that are outspoken about this. There are several more who feel the same way in both north and south Eddy County." Burkham, a nurse, said an incident in Malaga not too long ago drove home the need for rural EMTs to have the capability of administering drugs. "I have a neighbor who recently was stung 22 times by bees. Thank God, he was not allergic to the bee stings," she said. "If he had been allergic, we would have needed epinephrine, a simple drug that can save a life. But we can't administer that. We would have had to wait until Carlsbad EMS arrived. "I have a son who suffers from asthma," she added. "Because I'm a nurse, I can take care of him. But if someone else in Malaga has an asthma attack, we would have to wait for the Carlsbad ambulance team to arrive." Burkham said the Eddy County EMS Committee started working toward a pharmacy license a year ago and it is frustrating to still have nothing in hand. To apply, one of the requirements is to have a pharmacist serve as a consultant. Carlsbad pharmacist Dan Cross said he has agreed to be the consultant. "I think it very important that we should be able to administer drugs. I don't understand why we don't and being told that we can't," said Kuhn, who has been an intravenous technician at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant for seven years. "As EMTs in Eddy County, we have to renew our license every two years. We have to stay on top of all the medications that are available," she said. "The exams we have to take are tough. After we pass the tests, the state issues our license." Kuhn said she feels like the EMTs are letting down their community. "We should be helping the community," she said. "It's insane. The state says we are competent. People tend to think we don't care about people that we treat. But I can tell you that most EMTs in Eddy County - including me - treat patients like they were family members. "Being an EMT is not a fly-by-night thing. You really want to do this," she said. "You don't get paid for doing it, yet you have to pay for your training and to get licensed." Arnwine said that although county EMTs are not licensed to administer medications, the public is not in peril. He said the Loco Hills Volunteer Fire Department EMTs responded to a recent serious accident in the northern part of the county. However, within five minutes of their arrival, a medical evacuation helicopter arrived and its medical personnel began running intravenous fluids into the patient and administered the appropriate medication, he said. Burkham and Kuhn said that sometimes help does not come as rapidly as the Loco Hills incident. They said there have been times when they have waited helplessly at the scene of an accident until medical personnel arrived from Carlsbad. "We had one of our own firefighters involved in a accident out on the highway. He was in excruciating pain, and none of us could give him pain medication because we were not licensed to do that. That was hard, very hard," Burkham said. Kuhn said U.S. Highway 285 from Loving through Malaga and on to the Texas state line is a dangerous stretch of road where many fatalities have occurred. "We are closer to our small communities, and we are certainly more familiar with the countryside than the city EMS people," Kuhn said of Malaga and other remote volunteer fire department EMTs. "Getting the medications to patients immediately could save their life." Queen Volunteer Fire Department volunteer Judy Jones said her department - which is about 57 miles northwest of Carlsbad in mountainous country - is working toward getting EMT certification. She said it would certainly be beneficial to have the ability to administer medications. Last weekend, a Carlsbad businessman was seriously injured in a one-vehicle accident in the Queen area, and medication could not be administered until he was taken to the hospital. Jones said the fire department has a physician and a nurse practitioner who are volunteers, but they cannot administer medications. "If we get certified, I would say we would probably have a half-dozen people that would be eventually pharmacy licensed," Jones said. "It's important to get the pharmacy license, especially for departments like ours that are a long way from town." n n n Eddy County Commissioner Guy Lutman said he is aware of the dissension between some of the volunteer EMTs and Arnwine. He said he believes county residents would be well served if the EMTs could administer medications within the scope of practice set by the state. Lutman said he has been learning about the procedures the county would need to follow to obtain a pharmacy license for the county's EMTs. "(The EMTs) are compassionate, dedicated and a hard-working group of volunteers," he said. "I think we need to all get together, get on the same page and move forward on this issue. I would hate to see the loss of some good volunteers because they feel their hands are tied. "I think allowing them to be able to administer medications is a good thing," he said. "But we have to look at what the county needs to do and the implications to the county." Commission Chairman Julius Doubrava said he believes it would be valuable to have EMTs administer medications. "I know from personal experience, on my end, that as long as you perform with capability, you have little liability," he said. "I think if the EMTs stay in the scope of practice in administering the medications, they will be fine." Commissioner Janell Whitlock said the commission must look at the issue and do what is best for the citizens of Eddy County. "We need to look to provide service to help citizens in Eddy County," she said. "There are some rural areas that really need relief from time to time. "Before I vote on the issue, I am going to talk to all the parties involved," she added. "I need to know the pros and cons of allowing our EMTs to give medication before I make my decision." - --- MAP posted-by: Beth