Focus, Focus, Focus: Figure out what you're trying to accomplish and focus on that!

The Wednesday March 2nd USA Today reports in "Inverse lifesaving function?" that "more paramedics does not equal more lives saved."

"At a time when more cities are trying to put a paramedic on every fire engine — often the first vehicle to reach a medical emergency — Tulsa, which provides emergency medical services to Jenks, is limiting the number of its paramedics."

"Yet Tulsa's emergency medical system is considered one of the nation's best as measured by the EMS "gold standard," the survival rate of its saveable cardiac arrests. Tulsa's survival rate is 26%. The national average is an estimated 6% to 10%."

"The city's EMS philosophy — and Twilley's story — illustrate the findings of a USA TODAY study of emergency medical data from 12 of the nation's biggest cities that suggest that victims of cardiac arrest are more likely to be revived in cities that spend fewer taxpayer dollars on paramedics."

"Cities with the highest survival rates, the data suggest, train firefighters and citizens to respond first with defibrillators and CPR, sending in a smaller, closely supervised corps of paramedics minutes later to give advanced care."

"This is the great divide in emergency medicine. Should a paramedic be on every fire truck, even though most of the calls are not matters of life or death? Or should paramedics be a smaller, more skilled corps that arrives to take over a few minutes after firefighters who just have basic emergency medical training?"

"Most cities opt for more paramedics, despite the expense and evidence that the approach does not necessarily save more lives."

Similarly, the New York Times reported that medical flight services are often unneeded and take more time to arrive than it would by driving. ("Fatal Crashes Provoke Debate On Safety of Sky Ambulances," February 28th, 2005) and I seem to recall a similar article that I can't find.

We need to focus on results, not glitz, when dealing with public policy.