Going Above and Beyond

 

About Care Ambulance

Care Ambulance is a Harvey-based ambulance service, specializing in non-emergency transport. Founded in 1976, Care’s modern-day story begins when current Vice President Frank Graff took over the company in 2006. Struggling after Hurricane Katrina, Care was responding to only 8-10 calls for ambulance service per month, a number that is now close to 700. To respond to so many calls, Care Ambulance has 12 ambulances staffed by 75 paramedics and EMTs, 3 office staff, and a full-time ambulance mechanic.

 

Who Care Serves

Care Ambulance has four major service industries, all falling under non-emergency ambulance service:

• Nursing Homes & Hospitals – What could be considered its “9 to 5 job,” Care regularly transports nursing home patients to and from the doctor’s office or the hospital. They also transport patients between hospitals and bring them home from the hospital. If transport requires an ambulance, Care does it.
• Disaster – During hurricanes and other local issues, Care evacuates the nursing homes and hospitals with which they have disaster arrangements. They then contribute to the State’s evacuation plans by evacuating hospitals. Additionally, Care travels in response to disasters, having worked on the BP Oil Spill cleanup efforts in 2010 and Hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey in 2012.
• Industrial – Industrial facilities, particularly in the chemical industry, hire Care to have a paramedic present in case of an emergency.
• Events – Care staffs festivals, sporting events, and just about any other event that has a paramedic present.

Care also provides emergency services when city and parish EMS services need supplementing. Due to overflow, 9-1-1 enlists Care’s services about 4 to 5 times per week.

 

Beyond the Call of Duty

While there are different levels of certifications for paramedics, Care Ambulance requires all of their employees to hold a Specialty Care Transport certification, several steps above what is required. This allows Care’s employees to be more prepared, but it also allows them to manage the medical care during transport. Furthermore, instead of sending their paramedics to outside certification courses, Care hosts Continuing Education (CE) classes in their office, including both required re-certification courses, as well as refreshers. Hosting the classes not only makes them more convenient and accessible to employees, but also allows Care to manage the quality of the programs.

 

Ready for Anything

On all levels, Care Ambulance is infinitely prepared for whatever comes next. Day-to-day, Care utilizes System Status Management, which is predictive software that analyzes past calls based on date, time, and location. Care uses the software’s analysis to schedule shifts and station paramedics to minimize response time.

Care takes its role in disaster response seriously. They collaborate to create disaster and evacuation plans with their nursing home and hospital clients. Instead of simply agreeing in advance to evacuate, then waiting for disaster, Care proactively and carefully creates multiple backup plans for each of their clients to safely evacuate, no matter what the circumstances.

 

Get in Touch with Care

Care is always looking to build relationships with healthcare partners, including nursing homes. They are also available to serve any of their other service industries. In short, if you need an ambulance and it’s not an emergency, contact Frank Graff at 504-366-0739 or frank.graff@careambulance-la.com.

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