The Gila River Indian Community Emergency Medical Services (aka Gila River EMS) provides

paramedic A paramedic is a registered healthcare professional who works autonomously across a range of health and care settings and may specialise in clinical practice, as well as in education, leadership, and research. Not all ambulance personnel are p ...

ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...

and

rescue Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, or the urgent treatment of injuries after an accident or a dangerous situation. Tools used might include search and rescue dogs, mounted search and rescue ho ...

services for the

Gila River Indian Community The Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) (O'odham language: Keli Akimel Oʼotham, ''meaning "Gila River People"'', Maricopa language: Pee-Posh) is an Indian reservation in the U.S. state of Arizona, lying adjacent to the south side of the city of ...

. A subsidiary of the tribally owned Gila River Healthcare hospital, Gila River EMS is considered a third service model (i.e., it operates independently from both fire and police departments, and from privately owned ambulance services) and provides emergency medical and rescue services to the Gila River Indian Community in conjunction with the Gila River Police Department and the Gila River Fire Department. Gila River EMS headquarters are located in Sacaton,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. Located in southern

Maricopa County Maricopa County is in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,420,568, making it the state's most populous county, and the fourth-most populous in the United States. It contains about 6 ...

and northern

Pinal County, Arizona Pinal County is in the central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. According to the 2020 census, the population of the county was 425,264, making it Arizona's third-most populous county. The county seat is Florence. The county was founded in 187 ...

, Gila River EMS operates 7 paramedic ambulances, 1 medium duty rescue unit, 1 multi-patient support unit and 3 Advanced Life Support Command units working out of 5 stations. Gila River EMS employs approximately 80 full and part-time staff certified at the Basic EMT and Paramedic levels. All administrative staff are certified by the State of Arizona at the paramedic level. In addition to providing

9-1-1 , usually written 911, is an emergency telephone number for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Palau, Argentina, Philippines, Jordan, as well as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency nu ...

emergency services, the department is heavily involved in

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed ...

s. It provides stand-by services for community events and operates a public relations group that attends local

health fair A health fair is an educational and interactive event designed for outreach to provide basic preventive medicine and medical screening to people in the community or employees at work in conjunction with workplace wellness. It can also be a public h ...

s and community events to promote safety and health issues. It provides free

CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore sponta ...

training,

first responder A first responder is a person with specialized training who is among the first to arrive and provide assistance or incident resolution at the scene of an emergency, such as an accident, disaster, medical emergency, structure fire, crime, or terr ...

and Basic EMT training. The Department administers a community-wide public access

Automated external defibrillator An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation (VF) and pulseless ventricular tachycardia, and is able to treat them thro ...

program. Gila River EMS participates in numerous local, state and national EMS committees and organizations. In 2007 Gila River EMS was recognized by the National Native American EMS Association as the EMS Service of the Year.

Public Safety Stations & Apparatus

References

{{Reflist

External links

Gila River Indian Community Emergency Medical Services

Gila River Healthcare

Gila River Indian Community

Central Arizona College
Gila River Indian Community Ambulance services in the United States Maricopa County, Arizona Pinal County, Arizona Medical and health organizations based in Arizona