Photo submitted to Times Observer Community Foundation of Warren County Executive Director Robert Kaemmerer (left) presents a check for $6,375 to EmergyCare Warren Division EMT James Zavinski toward the purchase of video laryngoscopes for its emergency vehicles in the county.

Grant dollars are bringing enhanced emergency medical services response to Warren County.

All of EmergyCare’s emergency vehicles stationed in Warren County will be equipped with video laryngoscopes. One EmergyCare vehicle in the county, the critical care unit, already has the technology on-board.

The Community Foundation of Warren County provided a grant of $6,375 to equip the others.

“A significant cause of preventable pre-hospital deaths is failure to control the airway adequately,” EmergyCare Director of Community Development Karen Jakiel said. “Field intubation (FI) is most used for patient airway control. FI can be challenging, often requiring multiple attempts.”

“Training and practice, appropriate patient evaluation and selection, and preparation in advance of difficult airway situations are all critical to the success of field intubation,” Jakiel said. “Video laryngoscopy (VL) simplifies the procedure by enhancing the visibility of the vocal cords.”

The Community Foundation dollars handles the EmergyCare vehicles in Warren County.

“With this project, EmergyCare aims to equip its entire fleet of ambulances (35) with video laryngoscopes, which are currently only available on EmergyCare’s two Critical Care units, one of which is stationed in Warren County,” Jakiel said. “Each video laryngoscope costs over $2,500. The total cost of the project is $87,745.”

“Between Dec. 1, 2020, and Dec. 1, 2021, EmergyCare intubated 134 patients using older laryngoscope technology and five patients using video laryngoscopes,” Jakiel said.

EmergyCare is one of the largest nonprofit ambulance services in the state with a seven-county service area, according to Jakiel.