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S P ECIAL IZE D PATRO LS a process that largely happened organically, says C. Crawford Mechem, MD, EMS medical director for the Philadelphia Fire Department and professor of emergency medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, but was born of necessity. The Philadelphia Fire Department is the lone 911 EMS response agency for the city. During peak hours 50 ambulances run. But with a 2012 EMS call volume of nearly 281,000, with five ambulances going on more than 8,000 runs each, it's obvious that, at times, no ambulances are immediately available. It makes sense, then, for cops who respond to calls with penetratingtrauma patients to transport without waiting for EMS backup. Philadelphia, like many other large cities, is no stranger to gun violence. In 2012 there were 331 homicides in the city, according to Mechem, 82 percent of which were due to firearms. It's therefore become practice for police, if they've While police transport in Philadelphia is a long-standing practice, and those few minutes saved may have also saved lives, Mechem believes it's ideally not a model for other systems to emulate. arrived on scene and no ambulance is present, to often just load and go—at times even as the ambulance arrives. If this seems strange, it's only because the practice isn't more com- mon. But it does happen, all over the world, and to great effect following the Aurora, Colo., shootings on July 20, 2012. Twenty-three trauma patients were transported to the University of Colorado Hospital Emergency Department that day—12 by police, eight by personal motor vehicle and three by EMS. Within 45 minutes of the shootings, nine police cars and one ambulance arrived at the emergency department (ED) with victims. Police transport clearly made a difference. Studies of Philadelphia's system show penetrating-trauma patients transported by Philadelphia Fire Department ambulance have a lower probability of survival when compared to police transport. Even when controlling for injury severity and other variables, the outcomes for patients transported by Philly police are equivalent to those you need this robot. Climbs stairs, Durable Tracks, Two way Audio, Dual Cameras, Easy Setup CarbonFire 10 mounting capability AVATAR II for SWAT, Police, CBRNE, and EOD use. 650.838.9191 www.robotex.com sales@robotex.com Circle 25 on Reader Service Card www.officer.com September 2013 Law Enforcement Technology 9