Story covered in Hope Star on July 23, 2017

It’s not enough to ensure that an ambulance arrives at a scene and at the hospital quickly; but, ensuring that it arrives in both instances safely is at the heart of a technology upgrade at Pafford Emergency Medical Services that is tied to a recently announced expansion by the company in Hope. Pafford Executive Director Clay Hobbs compares the brain of the system to an aircraft “black box,” the device which records pilot actions related to in-flight data in real time. The concept is known as an “event data record” where automotive applications are concerned, Hobbs said. “We can know if the driver is speeding, if he braked too hard, or if he is driving erratically,” he said. That is because each ambulance in the 60-plus unit fleet will be electronically networked directly to the new Pafford dispatch center now under construction as part of a regional expansion here.