Wishard Ambulance Service

Indianapolis, Indiana
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You can see Wishard's Mission, Vision, and Values below

 
Wishard Paramedic Melanie Thralls and Paramedic/Supervisor Mike Thralls are an example of Wishard's Mission as they pose with a Haitian boy shortly after the devastating earthquake in January. See the full story from Wishtv 8 below. 
 
Our Mission

 

The mission of Wishard Health Services is to:

  • Advocate
  • Care
  • Teach
  • Serve

with a special emphasis on the vulnerable populations of Marion County.

Our Vision

Wishard Health Services will enhance continously our abiility to meet the needs of the underserved and all people of Marion County, will be sound economically, and will lead innovatively in clinical care, research, education, and service excellence.

Our Values

We respect all people.

  1. We give excellent service.
  2. We work with integrity.
  3. We provide superior quality healthcare and emphasize patient safety.
  4. We are always learning and developing.
  5. We are good stewards of our resources.

Wishard paramedic team headed to Haiti

From Wish-tv 8

14 Jan 2010, 6:40 PM EST
Reporter: Jay Hermacinski

Editor: Hyacinth Williams

 

A team of mostly Wishard Paramedics went to Haiti in June to support the heavy medical operation still going on. Along with their donation of their time they paid their own way to Haiti and used their time off from Wishard.

 

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - A husband and wife paramedic team from Wishard Hospital is planning to head to Haiti.

Mike Thralls and his wife are putting together a team of 8-10 first responders to help with recovery efforts and provide medical care.

Thralls has visited Haiti more than eight times in the past 4 years.

The recent devastation from the earthquake bothers him deeply.

Not only do the Thralls want to help with the recovery, but they also have personal reasons.

The couple learned Thursday night a 12-year-old Haitian they look at like a son is safe.

The Thralls hosted Mikenson D’Haiti on two occasions when he came to Indianapolis for medical surgeries.

Mikenson and his family live on the Haitian coast more than 40 miles northwest of Port Au Prince.

Thralls concern right now is just getting his team together and finding a flight to Haiti.

“The situation changes from moment to moment whether you can go or not. We're just trying to deal with those one at a time,” said Thralls.

The plan is to leave as soon as possible. In the meantime, church members at Chapel Hill United Methodist Church on N. Girls School Road are collecting medical supplies to send with Thralls. The collections will take place from 4.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. Thursday and 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Friday. Canned foods, water, and cash will also be accepted.

Thralls also suggested three organizations people can donate money to if they would like to help the earthquake victims. Those organizations are The Red Cross , The Salvation Army , and MissionHaitiMidwest.ORG .

The address for Chapel Hill United Methodist Church is 963 N. Girls School Road.

Wishard Rolls Out Nation's First Ambulance-Based EMR

Improving Patient Care Prior to Transport

Wishard Health Services—one of the nation’s first hospitals to use electronic medical records more than 30 years ago—has hit another hi-tech milestone, becoming the first hospital in the nation to use electronic medical records in ambulances.

With one of the oldest and largest hospital-based ambulance services in the United States, The Wishard Ambulance Service (a fleet of 25 ambulances) is the first emergency medical services agency to be equipped with new electronic medical record technology that will allow paramedics and emergency medical technicians to obtain patient health history by accessing their hospital’s medical records. This technology, the first of its kind in the world, was developed by researchers from the Regenstrief Institute in Indianapolis in collaboration with the Indiana University School of Medicine and Wishard.

"This system will offer yet another important tool for our first responders when arriving on the scene of an emergency,” said Charles E. Ford, associate vice president for emergency preparedness, protection and response at Wishard. “Quick medical action is essential, and it is extremely important for doctors, nurses and paramedics to have as much key information about a patient's medical history as possible."

Based on a recent study by Dr. Marc Overhage of the IU School of Medicine and the Indiana Health Information Exchange, looking at sharing data and cost savings, there was a $26-savings per visit when data was shared. Given that there are more than 500,000 patient visits in central Indiana, this results in $1.3 million in cost savings for the region.

Electronic medical record technology has been widely recognized for its role in improving quality of care, increasing efficiency of health care delivery, preventing medical errors and enhancing patient safety," said Dr. John T. Finnell, emergency medicine physician at Wishard. He noted that expanding this technology to ambulances greatly improves speed and efficiency of care, while allowing life-saving treatment on-location. "Bottom line, we are the only place in the country that is able to push healthcare data to medics in real-time, which can impact the pre-hospital care provided." .