Crossposted from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office Facebook Most people’s worst days were Michelle Lorraine’s every day for nearly 14 years as a police dispatcher for the Greater Seattle area. When people reached a crisis moment and dialed 911 for an emergency, it was Michelle who answered the phone calls and determined the appropriate course of action. “You can go from an active police incident with a shooting, to your next call being someone who is calling in with a parking complaint or because the neighbor’s dog pooped in their yard…. Read More

Crossposted from Public Health Insider On this final look at the EMS system for the week, we asked Dr. Tom Rea, Emergency Medical Services Program Director for King County, to wrap it up with a look at how our system works together to save lives and provide excellent care wherever you go in the county. In addition to his role with King County, Dr. Rea works clinically at Harborview Medical Center where he is a University of Washington Professor of Medicine. He’s dedicated his career to improving care for emergency conditions. What… Read More

Crossposted from Public Health Insider Today, we’re taking a closer look at Advanced Life Support (ALS) response. Sent to an incident by 911 dispatchers, ALS personnel, better known as paramedics, are sent to scenes where more intensive medical care is required, such as a heart attack or substantial physical trauma. Emergency Medical Technicians may have already reached the scene, providing initial support until paramedic units arrive. We talked with Matt Riesenberg, Chief of Operations at King County Medic One, to learn more about his work as a paramedic Read more at Public… Read More

Crossposted from Public Health Insider Today, we’re taking a closer look at Basic Life Support (BLS) response. Sent to an incident by 911 dispatchers, BLS personnel are the first responders to a scene and provide immediate medical care, such as advanced first aid and CPR/AED to stabilize the patient.  Staffed by firefighters trained as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), BLS units arrive at the scene in about five minutes (on average). We connected with EMT and firefighter Nate Strobel with the Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority to tell us a bit about his… Read More

Deputy Jaime Deer is currently featured in NBC’s National #Pride30 campaign for the month of June, which is LGBTQ Pride Month. Deputy Deer is one of the few openly transgender officers in the United States. He was one of over 1,600 individuals nominated for this honor, and was nominated directly by Sheriff Urquhart. Thirty people were ultimately selected, and Deputy Deer’s story was featured June 1. To read the full story and learn more about the #Pride30 campaign, click here or watch the video below.