James (Jimmy) Pierson, vice president of operations, has been instrumental in the improvement of every aspect of Medic Ambulance. Dedicated to running a high-performance system, he is always working to keep the trajectory of the company aimed at better outcomes for the community and employees. He recently reviewed the utilization frequency of a 24-hour station car and despite the increased financial cost of converting the assignment into 12-hour units, he pushed that change through to prevent employees from driving without enough sleep. This commitment to creating a culture of safety within Medic is why Pierson is an EMS Pulse Award recipient.

His Story

Pierson worked his way up the company, from the most entry level position to the vice president and nearly every position in between. He uses the learning and perspectives obtained from each position as part of his analysis of the impact of his executive decisions. He maintains his connections to all levels of employees through his eagerness to respond to a call, monthly field level meetings with an open forum, his open-door policy and his dedication to have a one-on-one sit down with every employee at least annually.

Dedicated to running a high-performance system, Pierson is always working to keep the trajectory of the company aimed at better outcomes for the community and employees.

Since its inception, Medic has created a culture of safety companywide from executive leaders to EMTs/Paramedics. He has taken every step to maintain that as a company, Medic Ambulance has never had the tragedy of an ambulance being involved in a fatal collision. He used a systematic approach to evaluate the different options available to create a culture of safe driving within the company. He implemented Road Safety in 2011, and the whole company was amazed at the data gathered, specifically, that they weren’t driving as safely as they thought. Pierson has used the agency’s Road Safety data collected to train new employees on the importance of safety.

Pierson also pushes the entire management team to identify additional data measures and to question whether there is a better practice available. Through contract negotiation, the organization experienced around a 60 percent increase in BLS interfacility transports (IFTs). He also spearheaded the creation of a Community Paramedicine Program, which targets recently hospitalized patients to reduce their readmission rate over the next 30 days. The program continues to help vulnerable patients to successfully transition home and improve their wellbeing. Under Pierson’s direction, we have reduced readmission rates by 60 percent and reliance on emergency services by 37 percent, all at no cost to the patients.

About EMS Pulse Awards

To coincide with National EMS Week, ZOLL created the EMS Pulse Awards. The awards recognize professionals who are the pulse of their EMS organization, working behind the scenes of prehospital care and empowering their organization to provide better care and ultimately enable their teams to save more lives within their communities. Winners were selected based on the information you provided in their nominations, which was also used in their story above. This year’s winners were recognized at our yearly user conference, SUMMIT. Congratulations to all of our winners who are successfully streamlining the business side of EMS! Interested in nominating a coworker for their achievements on the business side of EMS? Nominations will open again in Spring 2018.