News
Spirit of Tempe Goes to Couple
Friday, January 29, 2010
Dianna M. Nanez
The Spirit of Tempe Award is a lifetime achievement honor for business owners who have worked behind the scenes to help make their community a better place to live.
Bob Ramsey and his wife Jenny Norton have lived in Tempe for about 30 years. They dedicated countless hours to charitable work and have financially supported an extensive list of non-profits, said Mary Ann Miller, Tempe Chamber of Commerce president.
Their efforts are inspiring and the Chamber chose to acknowledge the couple's giving spirit with the award, Miller said.
"We really look a lot at the unsung heroes of our community," Miller said. "When we started talking to people... it seemed that everyone knew of something Bob and Jenny had done. They have done so much behind-the-scenes work that it was an easy decision."
Ramsey is the president and chief executive officer of Tempe-based StarWest Associates and PMT Ambulance. Norton is a former legislator, an auxiliary chaplain for the Arizona Department of Corrections and an ordained minister associated with Desert Springs Foursquare Church.
The Chamber will present the award at the 13th annual Breakfast for Chamber Champions on Feb 8th.
Ramsey said that he and his wife enjoy giving back to their hometown and state. "This has always been our way of living," Ramsey said. "From my perspective... we constantly must have a part of our life that is focused on others... it's not only our obligation, it's our duty as a part of a community."
Ramsey's and Norton's contributions include serving Tempe charities, non-profits and educational institutions through their work with Desert Springs Foursquare Church.
They have sponsored five endowments at their alma mater, Arizona State University. Their support of elementary education includes contributing to the founding of the now defunct Thomas J. Pappas elementary schools and endowment for Tempe's Escalante Community Center.
Inspired by his work in the ambulance industry, Ramsey has donated more than 30 ambulances and medical equipment and supplies to communities in Mexico and the Dominican Republic. The couple's donations helped establish the Habitat for Humanity of Central Arizona, an affordable-housing program.
Ramsey said that he was especially pleased to see his wife's work honored. "She has done so much over the years and never sought any acknowledgment," he said.
Partnership Would Spread Use of Defibrillators
Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006
Michael Ferraresi
The Arizona Republic SCOTTSDALE — Automated external defibrillators are being installed in Scottsdale police cars as more officers are trained to apply the life-saving devices on cardiac patients.
As many as 175 defibrillators are being donated by ambulance provider Professional Medical Transport as part of a new partnership with public safety agencies to make Scottsdale a “heart safe” city. Public safety officials could announce the partnership between PMT and Scottsdale’s police and fire departments as early as tonight at City Hall.
The goal is to cover as much of Scottsdale as possible with the devices, which gives voice instructions to users about how to apply the two electrodes to a heart attack victim’s chest. The devices monitor a victim’s heart rhythm, and provide an automatic electric charge if cardiac arrest is detected.
Many of the donated defibrillators will likely be placed in public buildings around the city. Scottsdale fire officials are already training residents on how to use the devices, which cost about $2,000 per unit. AEDs are credited with significantly increasing heart attack survival rates.
A heart attack patient has a 10 percent chance of surviving a cardiac arrest with every minute they are not defibrillated, according to the American Heart Association.
Officials believe police officers, who typically respond to calls before fire engines or ambulances, can help improve survival rates if they are provided AEDs.
Nine police cars have the devices now, three in each Scottsdale patrol district, but as many as 50 could be equipped in the future.
Posted in General News
PMT Ambulances Keep Drugs Cool
Monday, July 24th, 2006
Michael Ferraresi
Refrigerators will help preserve heat-sensitive drugs:
The Arizona Republic SCOTTSDALE — Not every ambulance in Arizona boasts a refrigerator just big enough to hold a six-pack of saline IVs.
Professional Medical Transport could be the only company in the state with built-in coolers to keep life-saving drugs cooler than room temperature, which during the summer could be a big help for patients.
Saline solution, used to treat heat stroke and dehydration, is just one drug better served cool, PMT officials said. Some cardiovascular medicine deteriorates in the heat, as well.
“If you’re having a heat stroke, it’s important not to put IVs hotter than your body temperature in,” PMT President Bob Ramsey said.
Ambulance providers are not required by law to refrigerate drugs. Federal agencies like the U.S. Pharmacopeia suggest that EMTs rotate their stock of drugs to avoid exposing medicine to heat or light for too long.
PMT officials said the refrigerators, or cooling drawers know as “environmental cabinets,” make it easier for EMTs than packing drugs in ice, which other companies do.
The temperature inside an ambulance parked outside on a normal summer day can reach more than 120 degrees.
“There’s a growing concern…that we should deal with this issue,” Ramsey said.
“We expect it will be mandated in the future.”
The temperature inside an environmental cabinet can be adjusted to the climate needed. On an exceptionally cool day, EMTs can adjust the heat so certain medicine does not go bad in the cold air.
PMT claims its 25 ambulances that began responding to emergency calls in Scottsdale in February and Chandler in December, are the only ones in Arizona with such technology.
Posted in General News
City’s Ambulance Service Gains Praise
Thursday, April 6th, 2006
Michael Ferraresi
The Arizona Republic SCOTTSDALE — Professional Medical Transport – the company that won a contract in Chandler last year and has challenged longtime emergency provider Southwest Ambulance in the city - has reported faster response times and received rave reviews since it started taking Scottsdale 911 calls in February.
With that initial success, PMT is already talking about expanding its ambulance services in the Valley — possibly beyond Arizona.
The integration of Scottsdale’s ambulances and fire engines has worked so well that officials believe the system could soon be used as a model for PMT to acquire other emergency services contracts. PMT won its Chandler contract last year, around the same time as it was approved by Scottsdale City Council, beating out rival Southwest Ambulance in both cities.
Now the Tempe-based company is waiting for its hometown to send out requests for proposals for a new ambulance contract, which could happen this year. Southwest currently serves Tempe.
“If we doubled in the Valley, I’d be happy, and anything beyond that is a bonus,” said Pat Cantelme, PMT’s chief operating officer in charge of emergency services.
PMT, tried to secure similar contracts in other West Coast states over the past couple of years, narrowly losing to incumbent ambulance companies for contracts in Vancouver, Wash., and Contra Costa County in northern Cali fornia.
Scottsdale fire officials reported that PMT has continued to meet or exceed response time requirements through March 27.
The average response time for PMT’s ambulances was 6 minutes, 25 seconds from Feb. 17 to 24, the company’s first week in Scottsdale, well under the required average time of about nine minutes. Scottsdale fire engines are dispatched simultaneously with PMT ambulances through Phoenix Fire Department’s Regional Dispatch Center.
The well-maintained, integrated system between Scottsdale’s new municipal Fire Department and a private ambulance company is a rare partnership in the United States, officials claim. While Southwest is also a private, for-profit company, PMT and Scottsdale fire officials claim their new partnership works more efficiently.
If Scottsdale’s system continues to work, Cantelme said the company would use it as a selling point with other municipalities seeking faster ambulance response times.
“We’ll do a lot of things to try and publicize that nationally, so other cities and fire departments looking for an alternative will see this (Scottsdale model),” Cantelme said.
If PMT is to expand, Scottsdale fire officials do not expect the increased attention paid to the ambulance company to affect the quality of the city’s emergency services.
“I really don’t see it having a negative impact on its system here,” said Rod Thompson, Scottsdale’s deputy fire chief in charge of emergency medical services.
Thompson and PMT officials cited the many stringent controls that Scottsdale wrote into its contract as one assurance that ambulances will not slow down.
Phoenix’ regional dispatch system is also touted as an accurate gauge of ambulance and fire engine response times, which provides more accountability.
Thompson said it would be nice to see a member of Scottsdale’s public safety family succeed elsewhere.
“The beautiful thing for us is to be a part of something on the ground floor, to develop this system with a partner like PMT,” Thompson said.
911 Contract Goes To PMT
Wednesday, October 26th, 2005
Amanda Lee Meyers
Scottsdale Tribune911 Contract Goes To PMTThe Scottsdale City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve an emergency services contract with Professional Medical Transport.
SCOTTSDALE — The Scottsdale City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve an emergency services contract with Professional Medical Transport, a firm that previously specialized in transporting patients between hospitals.
PMT and its larger rival, Southwest Ambulance, have been vying for the five-year contract with Scottsdale since city officials voted in January to put the service up for bid.
The contract can be extended up to six more years depending on performance.
Based on Tribune calculations, PMT stands to make at least $5.8 million a year for its services, which are billed to residents who use them.
"The challenge now is for us to make good on our promise," PMT CEO Pat Cantelme told the council. "We will not let you down."
The council’s decision Tuesday means that Rural/ Metro Corp., which owns Southwest, will have very little presence in the city where it began providing fire and medical services five decades ago.
In June, Scottsdale replaced Rural/Metro with a municipal fire department, and Southwest took over ambulance services. Southwest will continue serving Scottsdale until January.
Officials at Southwest, however, don’t plan on giving up that easily.
The company filed a complaint with the city last month, alleging PMT violated anti-kickback laws by offering 150 heart defibrillators to the city if it received the contract. Southwest’s information was based on statements PMT made to news media, because the city had not made public the firms’ bids.
PMT denied the allegations in a document Monday to a city hearing officer, saying that Southwest’s claims are baseless and its legal arguments erroneous.
A city hearing officer will decide in November whether PMT did violate antikickback laws. If the officer rules against PMT, the contract between the firm and the city could be thrown out and the bidding process started anew.
Southwest officials did not publicly comment on the city’s decision Tuesday. They are waiting until city staff members release a copy of PMT’s proposal, said Josh Weiss, a spokesman for Southwest. "We will be able to more strongly formalize our arguments," he said.
In addition to siding with PMT, the council voted 5-2 to staff four of PMT’s 12 dedicated ambulances with city firefighters. That decision raised concerns among the two opposing councilmen that the move was a disturbing step toward one day providing a city-run ambulance service.