IU Health, Fishers Fire Department partner on lifesaving training

IU Health Emergency Medicine doctors and nurses brought their medical expertise to the Fishers Fire Department in a three-day emergency medical services (EMS) training this month. They helped fire fighters train to care for real-world medical emergencies using simulations, fake patients and even some fake blood. IU Health’s goal was to make sure firefighters felt confident and equipped to provide on-the-scene emergency medical care and get patients to the hospital safely.

"It benefits patients because we are partners in this," said Natalie Zipper, manager of clinical operations for IU Health Saxony's Emergency department. "The more that we can do to get to know each other and know roles and responsibilities, the more seamless things are when we work together to save a patient."

The Fishers Fire Department spent months planning the scenarios, which included an emergency medical call during a fire, a crewmember getting wounded while responding to a call, multiple gunshot emergencies and more. During the scenarios, nurses and doctors from IU Health Saxony and North hospitals provided medical feedback to the firefighters and volunteered to act as patients and bystanders.

The partnership between IU Health and the Fishers Fire Department creates a seamless transition of care from the time first responders arrive on the scene through the patient's time at the hospital.

"If we can take the work that we do and transition it into that ER, that hospital, and provide a good working team relationship, I think the outcome for the patient is destined to be much, much better,” said Jeff Stephenson, a lieutenant with the Fishers Fire Department.

IU Health Saxony is taking further steps to better care for patients experiencing an emergency. Five new rooms opened in the hospital’s Emergency Department in February. The Emergency department will also undergo additional phases of renovations to continue improvements to existing patient rooms and ancillary areas.

The work is part of IU Health’s Fishers Community Impact Project, a $300 million investment which includes a significant expansion of the IU Health Saxony Hospital campus and services, and the addition of offsite, outpatient access to primary care and specialists to more holistically meet the needs of Fishers and surrounding communities.