CIT - Prevention Programs

Since its inception, CIT has recognized that the greatest contribution we can make to emergency medical services (EMS) is to assist in the prevention of illnesses and injuries that require an EMS response. Our prevention efforts have been grounded in sound scientific data that clearly identify and describe a problem. We have then attempted to select and match proven strategies and funding sources with the identified problem. Lastly, we have always included a strong evaluation component into our prevention activities so that their impact can be measured and shared with others. Unfortunately, it often takes years or generations to observe changes in behavior and the reduction of risk. We are committed to injury and illness prevention campaigns that have the staying power to support this longitudinal change.

Western EMS Network

Most ambulance services in rural areas are staffed by community volunteers and operate on a shoestring budget. Local tax support is scarce to non-existent and the cost of readiness for an ambulance service in rural and frontier areas is not supported by service fees. The Western EMS Network provides discount purchasing opportunities to ambulance services and other emergency response agencies in Montana and the other four WWAMI states for emergency vehicles, medical supplies and equipment, monitors, defibrillators as well as fleet fuel purchasing and legal services. Western EMS Network of Bozeman was incorporated as a non-profit corporation in 2006. Start up funds for the network come from an OHRP Rural Health Network Development grant awarded to Critical Illness and Trauma Foundation of Bozeman. Network partners include Critical Illness and Trauma Foundation, Montana Hospital Association, Montana Office of Rural Health, Montana EMS Association and EMS and Trauma System Section, DPHHS.

Injury Prevention CD-ROM for Medical Personnel
The knowledge that injury is a major cause of death in children led CIT to join forces with the Loyola Shock Trauma Institute and Illinois EMSC program to produce a comprehensive, interactive CD-ROM program to help physicians, nurses and prehospital providers learn more about injury prevention. Injury Prevention for Medical Personnel: Reach for the Sky. The program uses video, text and graphics to cover basics in injury prevention knowledge, specific injury classifications and how the injury could have been prevented, then demonstrate how to approach a patient with injury prevention information. Injury areas include; motor vehicle, abuse/homicide, bicycle, burns, drowning, firearms, falls and suicide.

Rural Emergency Medical Services and Trauma Technical Assistance Center (REMSTTAC)

Earthtalk Studios and the Critical Illness and Trauma Foundation were awarded a $500,000 federal contract from the Office of Rural Health Policy to establish the Rural Emergency Medical Services and Trauma Technical Assistance Center (REMSTTAC). The REMSTTAC will serve as a national focal point for the dissemination of information on rural and frontier emergency medical services (EMS) and trauma care. A key feature of the center will be an interactive website that will serve as an online national resource. The website and other resources of the REMSTTAC will be accessed by a broad range of rural and frontier EMS providers including federal grant recipients, state EMS and rural health offices, and their constituencies including rural hospitals and communities.

Click here to link to REMSTTAC Publications.

Click here to download a copy of the Rural EMS Agenda for the Future.

Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC)

A needs assessment was conducted to assess the perceived needs for materials and technical assistance concerning suicide prevention. The survey was conducted across a broad audience of suicide and related professionals and survivors in the eight state intermountain region. The findings summarized in that report have been accepted for presentation at the 37^th Annual Conference of the American Association of Suicidology in Miami, Florida and the 7^th World Conference Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion in Vienna, Austria.

Current activities include the development of training materials for first responders that is being completed in conjunction with The Link National Resource Center.

St. Vincent’s Healthcare

In response to the critical bioterrorism training needs of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel in Montana. CIT will develop training materials for specifically for EMS personnel that includes an interactive CD ROM training program. The CD ROM will be used in two different and equally important capacities. First, it will serve as a method of providing a standardized set of materials to the more than 6,000 active EMS personnel scattered widely across the state. In this capacity, it can either be used individually or in a small EMS agency service group. Second, it will become integrated into all future initial EMS training programs, again resulting in standardization delivered in a high quality message. The training program will stress the importance of event identification, incident command systems, proper protective equipment and what to do in the event of an inadvertent exposure.

More traditional training is also being developed and delivered in the areas of:

Hazard Awareness
Incident Command
WMD Awareness
Decontamination
Triage
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

This training is being developed through the two-year college system in Montana and through traditional train-the-trainer efforts using seasoned EMS instructors.

Montana Suicide Prevention Program (click for more)
Because suicide is a major cause of death and injury, especially in young people, CIT has joined the Montana Suicide Prevention Steering Committee to help build a 5-year suicide prevention plan for Montana. CIT shares the Steering Committee's belief that individuals and groups who address the physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual needs of individuals and communities in Montana must work together to effectively address the suicide epidemic. Full details of the Suicide Prevention Program can be found at www.montanasuicide.org.

Injury Prevention and Control
CIT Foundation staff have been involved in injury prevention programs in Montana and the region. A notable success of these efforts is the Montana Injury Prevention and Control Plan, released in September 1998, by the Montana EMS and Injury Prevention Section. The primary goals of this plan are to reduce the rate of unintentional injury in Montana by 5% and to move toward the Healthy People 2010 objectives. The plan includes an overview of the magnitude of the injury control problem, discussion of injury prevention philosophies, emphasis on the need for better data over time, and strategies for implementation. Specific problem areas that will be addressed include infrastructure, motor vehicle injuries, fall injuries, intentional injuries and water injuries.

Analysis of Prior Health System Contacts as a Harbinger of Subsequent Fatal Injury in American Indians (click for more)

(click to download poster in
*.pdf format (49kb)

The purpose of this research was to identify and characterize any association between prior injury or alcohol-related acute care contacts with the Indian Health Service and subsequent alcohol-related injury death that may suggest opportunities for mitigation. Results showed a relationship between visits for acute or chronic alcohol treatment events and subsequent alcohol-related fatalities. This work helped to identify opportunities for prevention activities. This project was presented at the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma. The research project was a collaborative effort between staff and board members. Teri L. Sanddal, Nels D. Sanddal, James Upchurch and Thomas J. Esposito contributed to the project. It was supported by a grant from the US DHHS Office of Program Evaluation. This study has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Rural Health.

Sanddal, T.L., Sanddal, N.D., Upchurch, J.D. & Esposito, T.J. (2005). Analysis of prior health system contacts as a harbinger of subsequent fatal injury in American Indians. Journal of Rural Health, 21(1), 65-69.

Here to Help
Domestic violence is a prevailing problem in our society, yet prehospital providers get little training on how to handle these volatile calls. Ambulance personnel are often the first people a victim sees when he or she needs medical attention. CIT and the Montana Board of Crime Control created the Here to Help project out of the realization that those providers have a unique opportunity, not only to give the victim the immediate help needed, but also to provide that first helping hand in showing the victim the way out of the vicious cycle of violence. Additionally, because these providers must often enter the home of the victim and the perpetrator, it is vital that they learn how to protect themselves. Here to Help includes an interactive CD-ROM training program, a print manual and Resources to Help, a companion web site.