Ambulance
Service
The primary purpose of the paramedic ambulance
program is to provide superior rescue and emergency medical
care for the community. The Oak Brook Fire Department
staffs two advanced life support (ALS) ambulances with
two paramedics each. One ambulance is housed at
each of the Village's two fire stations located at 1200
Oak Brook Road and 725 Enterprise Drive (at 22 nd Street).
A reserve ambulance is also maintained for special events,
disasters and placing in service in the event that one
of the regular ambulances is out of service for maintenance.
For questions
about the EMS (emergency medical services) Program including
the ambulance service, contact EMS Director, Gary Clark
at 630-368-5190 or 630-368-5200.
Ambulance
Fees
Emergency Medical
Services: As the Village, through its fire department,
currently provides emergency medical service to the Village,
and the corporate authorities of the Village deem it appropriate
to impose a user charge for such service in order to defray
partially the cost to the Village of providing such service,
a fee is hereby imposed upon any person receiving emergency
medical service and transportation for each use provided
by the Village as follows:
- Three hundred, fifty dollars ($350.00) for residents
of the Village plus six dollars twenty-five cents ($6.25)
per mile from the point of pick up to the hospital for
basic life support services.
- Four hundred dollars ($400.00) for residents of the
Village plus six dollars, twenty-five cents ($6.25)
per mile from the point of pick up to the hospital for
advanced life support level I services.
- Six hundred dollars ($600.00) for residents of the
Village plus six dollars, twenty-five cents ($6.25)
per mile from the point of pick up to the hospital for
advanced life support level II services.
- Five hundred, fifty dollars ($550.00) for non-residents
plus six dollars, twenty-five cents ($6.25) per mile
from the point of pick up to the hospital for basic
life support services.
- Six hundred dollars ($600.00) for non-residents plus
six dollars, twenty-five cents ($6.25) per mile from
the point of pick up to the hospital for advanced life
support level I services.
- Eight hundred dollars ($800.00) for non-residents
plus six dollars, twenty-five cents ($6.25) per mile
from the point of pick up to the hospital for advanced
life support level II services.
Ambulance
Transport Policy
Taking care
of loved ones during medical emergencies is a responsibility
the Oak Brook Fire Department takes very seriously.
Generally, these emergencies require rapid response to
the location of the emergency, assessment and treatment
of the patient(s), and finally transportation to the most
appropriate hospital. Our transport policy often
generates many questions regarding which hospital is the
most appropriate. There are many times when we are
able to take a patient to the hospital of their choice.
However, there are many times when we cannot, because
it is not in the best interests of the patient or the
community.
When an ambulance
is summoned in Oak Brook to the scene of a medical emergency
or traffic accident, patients that require treatment and
transportation are transported to the closest appropriate
hospital. In most instances, the closest hospital,
by travel time, is the most appropriate. In other
cases, with traumatic injury such as a those sustained
in a serious car accident, transporting the patient to
a Level I Trauma Center where there are more specialized
emergency room staff, may be the most appropriate.
A stable patient wishing to go to a more distant hospital
where their personal physician is on staff and that has
all of their medical records may also be appropriate.
The location of the emergency incident, the patient's
current condition, the directions from the emergency room
physician, and the wishes of the patient are all considered
when the transport decision is made.
The Oak Brook
Fire Department is part of the Good Samaritan Hospital
Emergency Medical Services System (GSEMSS). GSEMSS writes
the policies and procedures that our paramedics are required
to follow. In accordance with the GSEMSS Hospital Bypass
Policy, a patient may be transported to a hospital other
than the closest, only if the emergency department physician
determines that the medical benefits reasonably expected
from the provision of appropriate medical treatment at
the more distant hospital, outweigh the increased risks
to the patient from transport to the more distant hospital.
This determination is based on all of the following:
- The information provided to the physician by the paramedics
in the field.
- The reasonable risks and benefits to the patient.
- Whether the more distant hospital has available space
and qualified personnel for the treatment of the patient.
All hospitals
within the Good Samaritan EMS System are presumed to have
available space and qualified personnel unless they notify
other hospitals of the contrary.
Currently, the
Oak Brook Fire Department primarily transports to Hinsdale
Hospital in Hinsdale and Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers
Grove. Other hospitals where patients can be transported,
if requested and deemed medically appropriate, are Elmhurst
Memorial Hospital in Elmhurst, LaGrange Hospital in LaGrange
and Loyola University Medical Center and Edward Hines
Veterans Administration Hospital in and near Maywood.
Oak Brook Fire Department must limit transport distances
due to the extended out-of-service times for hospitals
that are further way. If our ambulances travel too
far out of our service area, it interferes with our paramedics'
ability to respond back to the next emergency. We try
to ensure that our ambulances get back in service as soon
as possible for the next emergency call that might come
in.
If the situation
allows, and a patient requests transport to a hospital
other than one of the five hospitals listed above, a private
ambulance can be requested to the scene for the transport.
In this situation, Fire Department paramedics will wait
on the scene for the private ambulance to arrive to assume
responsibility for the patient.
The Oak Brook Fire Department is
committed to providing excellent patient care to everyone.
This includes transport to the most appropriate hospital,
as well as being available for the next patient who may
need us.
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