Within a year of working as the EMS Coordinator, Raymond (Ray) Proa made Fort Mojave Mesa Fire Department (FMMFD) a progressive EMS provider that is one of only a handful in the country, and the first in the state, doing Head Up CPR. Ray was able to juggle all crew training, QA/QI, grant writing, meetings and equipment research while working a 48/96 schedule over the span of a year. He was recently awarded Firefighter of the Year for his hard work and accomplishments. Ray is a ZOLL Pulse Award winner. Here’s why:

Making the Necessary Changes to Standards & Procedures

After doing an honest department assessment of FMMFD’s EMS capabilities Ray decided to make certain changes needed to bring FMMFD to a top EMS provider level. This involved:

1. Rewriting protocols and procedures
2. Upgrading and purchasing new equipment
3. Standardized monthly training of at least 1 CEU class a month
4. Picking one EMS Protocol/standard a year and bringing it up to cutting edge practices

Leveraging Tools to Consistently Deliver High-Quality CPR

By purchasing and using the X Series, AutoPulse, ResQpod and ZOLL software, the agency decided they had the necessary tools to target cardiac arrest as the goal of improvement. Using Rialto Fire and ZOLL as resources, a Head Up CPR standard was drawn up and approved by the medical director. As a new Handtevy instructor, Ray is also planning to bring the best practices to how the agency provides care to pediatric cardiac arrest.

In His Own Words: Why We Should All Strive to Continually Raise the Bar

“My personal crew has more than 50 years of combined paramedic experience. I basically took what they knew of cardiac arrest and threw it in the trash. Remember, these changes don't occur overnight. It's the equivalent of moving a huge pile of dirt. Somedays you only move a spoonful. Some days you move a truck load. As long as you’re moving it, that’s all that counts. I can't think of any fire department that should be able to look their citizens in the face and tell them they are comfortable meeting the minimum standard in cardiac arrest.”