EMS FAQ Intro

Below are many of the questions we receive from community members regarding our services. If you have questions not answered below, please do not hesitate to contact WhidbeyHealth EMS at 360-914-3193 or email: EMSinfo@whidbeyHealth.org

FAQ
You should call 911 for any critical, life-threatening conditions. Some examples would include:
  • Chestpain
  • Difficulty breathing
  • Stroke
  • Head trauma
  • Severe bleeding
  • Serious trauma, fractures
  • Loss of vision
  • Loss of consciousness, unresponsive
  • Diabetic coma
Most insurances cover medically necessary ambulance transports. Check with your insurance provider to confirm
Services WhidbeyHealth EMS provides: 911, interfacility ambulance transports, community risk reduction through injury/illness prevention, community event coordination, public access defibrillation grants and program implementation, etc.
We will see you if you walk-in. However, while our ambulance stations are staffed 24/7 365, we may be out on a call. We cannot guarantee that anyone will be there to assist you. Most stations have a phone near the front entrance that connects directly to ICOM 9-1-1, so someone will get to you shortly if we are not in. We recommend that you contact 9-1-1 if you have a medical emergency instead of coming to the station whenever possible.
According to the CDC, fever, cough, and difficulty breathing are the most common symptoms. If you’re experiencing symptoms, call your medical provider. The CDC urges those who may have been exposed to avoid public places and limit contact with other people.
WhidbeyHealth EMS provides paramedic-level(Advanced Life Support), 911 emergency medical services on Whidbey Island. Each Paramedic ambulance is staffed by at least two Washington State Department of Health Paramedic and/or EMT teams that respond with other allied emergency services agencies in a tiered-response manner to ensure the fastest, safest, most effective service.
About 8,500 requests for service in 2019.
In the last ten years WhidbeyHealth EMS has responded from as high as 20% of all calls for service to as low as 13% since we instituted a Whidbey Island-wide senior falls prevention program called “SAIL.”
By utilizing the “tiered response system” that ensures that the closest and best trained emergency services providers are responding to the request for 911.
WhidbeyHealth EMS partners with Life Flight Network when critical, life threatening conditions require immediate transportation to an off-island specialty resource center. They assist with off-island transportation from the scene and inter-facility transport of critical patients when transporting by air is the safest and most efficient way to get patients to specialty resource centers WhidbeyHealth EMS will request air transport when it is determined that it is the most appropriate method of transport from scenes or will meet the helicopter at the pad in front of the hospital.
In accordance with national, state, and local best-practices we transport every patient to the closest and best facility. Trauma centers that are located in Everett and Seattle and cardiac catheterization centers off island would be facilities that we would transport to ifa patient needed these life-saving services. Of course WhidbeyHealth Medical Center is on Whidbey Island and can provide the many of the initial life-saving procedures that our patients require.If WhidbeyHealth Medical Center physicians determine that you will need specialty care at a specialty resource center, then we will transport you to that facility once you are stabilized.

According to the American Heart Association, early signs of a heart attack may include:

Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes – or it may go away and then return. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.

Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.

Shortness of breath. This can occur with or without chest discomfort.

Other signs. Other possible signs include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or light headedness.

Please do not hesitate to contact WhidbeyHealth EMS at 360-914-3193 or “insert alias email here” to get your very import question answered.