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Contact: Mike
Reynolds
(310) 851 7026
mike_reynolds@amr-ems.com
Strike Teams Aid AMR, Fire Departments
TORRANCE, CA. October
27, 2003 - Utilizing the “Strike Team”
principle developed on the afternoon of 9-11-2001, American
Medical Response (AMR) has redirected ambulances and crews
from within the region into Southern California fire areas.
AMR has brought in the additional ambulances
and crews to serve areas affected by the disaster, thereby
maintaining the medical transportation services throughout
the region and assisting Fire Departments in areas where they
usually provide medical transportation – allowing Fire
Department to concentrate all resources on fighting the fires.
AMR’s Northern California operation has
already provided vehicles, crews and supplies to their Southern
colleagues and has 22 more ambulances and crews standing by.
AMR’s Las Vegas operation also has vehicles and crews
on standby should they be needed.
The Strike Team principle was developed on
the afternoon of 9-11, when members of AMR’s Southern
Pacific Region met representatives of the Los Angeles County
Fire Department to formulate a way of working together under
certain disaster/emergency conditions. In brief, fire and
AMR crews would work as a team when such events occurred.
Strike Teams are self-supporting units at the scene of a disaster
– able to receive, triage and transport patients. “This
is a unique example of a public-private partnership and we’re
now seeing the practical benefits of its application under
severe conditions,” says David Mintz, CEO of AMR’s
Southern Pacific Region
American Medical Response, Inc. (www.amr.net),
the nation’s largest provider of medical transportation,
is locally operated in 35 states. More than 18,000 AMR paramedics,
EMTs and other professionals transport over four million patients
nationwide each year in emergency, critical and non-emergency
situations. AMR, a wholly owned subsidiary of Laidlaw International,
Inc. (TSX:BUS), is headquartered in Greenwood Village, CO.
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