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Disaster ... Hurricane Preparedness ... Emergency Medicine ... Disaster... Hurricane Prep

Gulfstream Petroleum Services Prepared for 'Power Outages'

BY LOIS THOMSON adequate quantity of fuel storage knowledge of the customer's fueling sys-
to last for the extended amount of tems. "It's not that we come out to clean
When June approaches, the thoughts time now required. your fuel but don't know much about the
of people in South Florida can't help but GPS can make sure everything tanks, the pumps, the price. You can take
turn to hurricane season, and what might is in place and that businesses are care of everything with one company, or
be pending in the coming months. But compliant with the new regula- piecemeal it with other companies."
Mark Watson doesn't believe the term tions, but Watson clarified, "We Watson said more and more businesses
"hurricane" covers it all. Watson, owner aren't the ones to say you need a are realizing how vital it is to manage
of Gulfstream Petroleum Services (GPS), certain size of tank for your facil- their fuel needs, and the industry as a
said, "We use 'hurricane' as a generic ity; our area of expertise isn't whole doesn't need as much education as
term, because what we're actually prepar- determining how long you have it previously did. He said he used to call
ing for is a power outage." to have fuel for. A customer does- on a facility and they would say I don't
He said it's not just hurricanes that can n't come to us and ask, 'what do need to do that, my fuel's never been bad,
cause power outages, although they are we need'; the customer comes I'm not worried about it. "Lately you
probably the greatest cause; "but any- and says 'I need this,' and we pro- don't get the flat-out refusal or the denial
body who lives in South Florida knows Brothers Sean Watson and Mark Watson with vide it." that the service is needed. So that's a
we get thunderstorms all throughout the father John Watson. Because it is a full-service com- good change in the industry, and I think
year." For that reason, it's imperative that pany, GPS handles everything you see that on a lot of different levels,
businesses properly maintain their fuel dependent equipment. But then they fig- associated with fuel tanks, including not just health care, but in every indus-
tanks and make sure they have sufficient ured you might have a nursing home installation, removal, repairs, cleaning, try. There's a lot more education available
fuel capacity. where nobody is on a ventilator, but you and inspections. Watson said, "We can at people's fingertips."
As Watson said, few regulations had do have elderly people who are bedrid- help in many ways, we're a turnkey fuel He added, "That's good for us, because
been in place until Hurricane Katrina hit den or ones who aren't mobile, and you storage solution. Not only can we polish we don't have to focus so much on trying
and people understood that generators don't have AC for three or four days in your fuel and have it tested by a third- to convince people of what they have to
could fail. Regulations for hospitals August in South Florida – and all of a party lab, but we can also do installation do; we are able to concentrate more on
increased after Katrina, but when sudden people realized a lot of different of the whole fueling system. So we know providing the service that they know
Hurricane Irma came along, they realized things go into being in a healthy environ- your tanks, we know your pipes, we they need. So we switched gears from
it wasn't just hospitals that needed guide- ment." know your pumps, we know your fuel, trying to educate people, to providing
lines. "Some of the rules and regulations These situations initiated many facili- what you use fuel for, how much you good service and keeping in compliance,
that were initially geared toward hospi- ties being required to increase their back- use. We know the whole system from A and making sure everybody is happy."
tals have been extended out to other up generator situations and their fuel to Z, which gives us an advantage when
health care facilities, like nursing homes storage situations. Some facilities needed it comes time to clean the system because For more information, call
and rehab centers. to increase the generator size, which we know how it works." (305) 281-7240 or visit
"They used to just focus on people required more fuel, while some had suffi- Watson said probably their biggest www.GPSfuel.com.
who were on ventilators or medical- cient generator size but didn't have an advantage to the customer is their overall

Miami Dade College Medical Campus (MDC-Med)

Emergency Services Program

According to the Bureau of The Miami Dade field-internship course. They are the first is responsible for the emergency on-
Labor statistics, EMTs and College Medical to arrive on a scene and provide the ini- scene treatment, life-saving stabilization,
Paramedics are projected to Campus (MDC-Med) tial assessment and direct patient care in and transport of ill or injured patients to
grow 15 percent from 2016 to Emergency Services the pre-hospital environment. an acute care facility. Additionally,
2026, much faster than the program prepares its The Medical Campus Emergency Paramedics provide direct patient care in
average for all occupations. graduates to become Medical Technician (EMT) program is a emergency rooms, clinics, and ambu-
Emergencies, such as car members of the pre- one-semester program of study requiring lance services. A Florida Paramedic
crashes, natural disasters, and hospital emergency ten credits. Before entry into the license is granted to students who com-
acts of violence, will continue medical care environ- Emergency Medical Technician program, plete the State board examination. The
to require the skills of EMTs ment and other acute students must have completed training Florida Department of Health accredits
and paramedics. The need for care areas of the hos- as a First Responder, which is a seven- the Paramedic Program at Miami Dade
these health services profes- pital. The Emergency week program of study requiring two College, Bureau of Emergency Medical
sionals is likely to increase as Medical Services credits for completion. Upon completion Services, the Commission on
a new wave of retirement is BY FABIO NASCIMENTO (EMS) Associate pro- of the Emergency Medical Technician Accreditation of Allied Health Education
expected to occur in the next gram is designed College Certificate Program, graduates Programs upon the recommendation of
couple of years. according to national are eligible to apply to the Florida Bureau the Committee on Accreditation of
To prepare for this high demand pro- and state standards and includes the of Emergency Medical Services and the Educational Programs for the EMS
fession, the combined Fire completion point of three college credit National Registry for Emergency Medical Professions. The Paramedic program is
Fighter/Emergency Medical Technician certificates: First Responder, Emergency Technicians (NREMT) for permission to offered every semester at the Medical
(EMT) vocational certificate has been Medical Technician, and Paramedic. participate in the examination process. A Campus.
developed to prepare graduates with the MDC-Med is situated in the heart of Florida Emergency Technician license is
technical skills needed to fulfill roles and Miami, straddling many historical neigh- granted to students who complete the For more information on the Emergency
positions in the fire service and borhoods including Overtown, State board examination. The EMT pro- Medical Services program, contact Mr. Mike
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Downtown Miami, Liberty City, Buena gram is offered every semester at the Yoder RN, EMT-P, EMS program coordinator,
industry. The coursework will include Vista, and East Little Havana. Miami- Homestead, North, and Medical campus- at (305) 237-4337 or myoder@med.edu.
applied technical skills in both firefight- Dade County is the largest metropolitan es.
ing and emergency medical services. The area in the State of Florida and has signif- The Medical Campus Paramedic pro- Fabio Nascimento, MHA Department
program (750 hours/25 Credits) is icant health and socioeconomic dispari- gram is a three-semester program of Chairperson, Community Clinics and
designed to provide the firefighter stan- ties to address. With that in mind, our study requiring 42 credits for comple- Emergency Services, Miami Dade College,
dards training followed by the EMT EMS students gain invaluable learning tion. Our students will learn to provide Medical Campus, can be reached at
training. Financial Aid has approved this experiences as they participate in the advanced medical and trauma care in the fnascime@mdc.edu.
program for eligible students. hospital emergency room and fire rescue pre-hospital environment. A paramedic

26 June 2019 southfloridahospitalnews.com South Florida Hospital News