AMR San Diego Paramedic Among the World's Best.

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. -- Three San Diego paramedics won gold medals at an international clinical skills competition in Australia on September 28, 2007. The winning team competed on behalf of the San Diego Regional Cooperative Care Program (RCCP). Team members are Dannie Myers from American Medical Response (AMR), James Marugg from the San Miguel Consolidated Fire Protection District and Cory Brown from the Bonita-Sunnyside Fire Protection District.

Dannie Myers has worked as a paramedic for AMR San Diego for three years and also serves as a Development and Training Specialist with AMR's Clinical Education Services Department. Myers has been a high-quality paramedic since her start at AMR. Her work as a field crew member and as a trainer for fellow frontline emergency care providers made her a perfect fit to be AMR's representative on the RCCP team

The RCCP is a pioneering public-private partnership between AMR San Diego and its seven fire agency partners providing common medical direction, joint training and unified incident command, thus eliminating duplication of efforts and improving the cost-effectiveness of all partners.

The international clinical skills competition was part of the Australian College of Ambulance Professionals' Asia Pacific International Conference. The RCCP paramedics beat six other teams in the competition including second and third place winners Team Canada British Columbia and the New York City Fire Department (FDNY).

The team advanced to the international competition by winning the National Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Games in March 2007 in Baltimore, Md. The National EMS Games is a clinical and paramedic skills competition that took place as part of the annual EMS Today Conference and Expo. Over the course of three days, the RCCP team competed against 20 other teams from across the United States in real-world patient care scenarios and drills. They shocked their competition in the preliminary round when they outperformed last year's winner, FDNY.

The Australian competition involved a scenario that the team had 20 minutes to manage. The team was judged for the care they provided and the time it took to complete the tasks. The paramedics responded to an incident of unknown nature in a remote location. Upon arrival, the paramedics had to immediately assess and treat three critical patients. To resolve the scenario, all paramedics needed to participate actively in providing patient care. The paramedics were required to operate under Australian protocols.

American Medical Response Inc. (www.amr.net), America's leading provider of medical transportation, is locally operated in 37 states and the District of Columbia. AMR's 18,500 paramedics, EMTs and other professionals transport more than four million patients nationwide each year in critical, emergency and non-emergency situations. Operating a fleet of approximately 4,500 vehicles, AMR, a subsidiary of Emergency Medical Services Corporation, is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colo.