Emergency Medical Service

The American College of Emergency Physicians recommends that anyone experiencing the following symptoms be brought to an ED immediately:

• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• Chest or upper abdominal pain or pressure lasting two minutes or more
• Fainting, sudden dizziness, weakness
• Changes in vision
• Difficulty speaking
• Confusion or changes in mental status, unusual behavior, difficulty waking
• Any sudden or severe pain
• Uncontrolled bleeding
• Severe or persistent vomiting or diarrhea
• Coughing or vomiting blood
• Suicidal or homicidal feelings
• Unusual abdominal pain

We staff two ambulances around the clock, and a third ambulance from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. We are licensed at the paramedic level, which ensures that a paramedic is assigned to every emergency call. Redington-Fairview EMS responds to approximately 5,000 calls per year, covering the towns of Skowhegan, Norridgewock, Mercer, Canaan, Cornville, Athens, Brighton, and Solon. We provide paramedic-level assistance to the ambulance services that cover the greater Bingham area and Harmony. Our staff consists of 41 professionals, most of whom live in the community.

Our ambulances are very much like mini emergency rooms. The assessments we provide, and the treatments we render, are much like what a patient might receive in the first 20 - 30 minutes that they are in the emergency room. This is especially true for calls that involve heart problems. Patients can get initial treatment for their chest pain right in their own homes, and that treatment is continued during the transport to the hospital. We carry an array of medications used to treat cardiac problems. Because we have a paramedic on every emergency call, we can administer pain-management medications, anti-nausea medication, and medication to manage allergic reactions and respiratory emergencies.

RFGH and LifeFlight have a helicopter landing pad that enables emergency medical personnel to more effectively care for critically ill and injured patients in the Somerset County area. Patients can quickly be transferred from RFGH to specialty centers in Maine and Boston, where they can receive the care required in advanced and traumatic illnesses and injuries.