King County, Washington, Essay Example

King County, Washington

King County, Washington is the most populace county in the state of Washington as well as in the top 15 most populated counties in the United States (13^th). The county has a total land area of 2,307 square miles, and slightly over eight percent of this area contains water. The area is known for being a center for liberal politics and Seattle is one of the most liberal cities in the country and has elected socialist council members, gay mayors, endorsed the “War on Christmas”, has strongly supported environmental movements, and is among the top five cities with the fewest cars; however, although Seattle and King County are often associated with liberalism in its politics and its policies, some argue that there are still many strong conservative elements despite its strong progressive tendencies. King County was actually renamed in 2005 to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr as opposed to the original founder who also shared the last name King.

Service Area

The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Division of Public Health – Seattle & King County represents a complex network of different responders and providers. The network is organized under a Medic One/EMS system that provides coordination and standardization efforts within the system. For example, there is standardized EMT training, continuing education, dispatcher training and code standardization, and even data collection provided by the Medic One organization. Whenever anyone has a medical emergency and dials 9-1-1, they are utilizing a system called Medic One/EMS, which aims to enhance survival rates and abate disability from emergencies that take place outside of the hospital in the county through the provision of effective and high-quality patient care prior to entering clinical and hospital settings. In order to achieve this, the Division abides by a medical paradigm that integrates a philosophy predicated on collaborative decision-making, and the devising and cultivation of seminal, groundbreaking strategic initiatives that respond to the importunity for services and stimulate the efficacy of the system. As such, all programs in the EMS Division are devised to amplify these endeavors and are cultivated vis-a-vis potent partnerships with other important regional EMS agencies in addition to avant-garde leadership and administration within the emergency medical field.

Economic Indicators from Census Data

The region can be categorized by a wage and income rate that was significantly higher than the country’s average and there were also far fewer people living in poverty relative to state and national averages. Seattle’s progressive government was one of the first in the country to institute a significantly higher minimum wage ($15 dollars an hour). The program has so far been argued to be a success. Within the time period between January 2014 and December 2014, the business owners of Seatac in addition to their consumer base. Seatac’s business owners and customers have been absorbing the price of paying employees minimum wage, or $15 an hour, during the year 2014. In addition, unemployment diminished by over 15%, thereby falling from 6.3% TO 5.2%. Surprisingly, people have the agency to increase the minimum wage  at an exponential rate with regards to increments in addition to elevating employment rates concurrently.

The fact that King County is largely progressive and also a strong economy has had major implications for public services include the county’s Emergency Management System (EMS).

Geographic Scope

The Medic One/EMS system in King County covers the full range of the county’s boundaries and in some cases actually extends beyond these boundaries as it coordinates with neighboring systems. According to Vance-Sherman (2015) the regional context can be described as a county with borders that are located between Puget sound on the west side and the Cascade Range on the east, which is King’s County.  King County is perceived as a very diverse cultural and geographical region, as its elevation levels oscillate. King’s County also contains a diverse and vast array of human geographies because of how densely populated it is in urban spaces along the coast of Puget Sound, in rural communities that are located at the southeast and in alienated towns in the Cascade foothills. Interesting, only 39cities and towns are identified in King’s County.

Standard Setting and Enforcement

The Medic One/EMS system is the central organization that plays a central collaborative role in King County. This organization operates based on partnerships that are built on regional, collaborative, cross-jurisdictional coordination – while each provider operates individually, the care provided to the patient operates within a “seamless” system. Collaboration includes 30 fire departments, five EMS dispatch centers, 6 paramedic agencies, the University of Washington, 20 hospitals, and King County denizens. This sequence governing standardized and consistent medical collaboration and care between various departments will pre-hospital emergency care. In addition, the Medic One/EMS system created a medical training that is available to those in need of pre-emergency care (Public Health–Seattle and King County, N.d., p. 4).

Market Allocation

The Medic One/EMS system retains a degree of distinction with regards to how it is funded because to the elevated rates of economic development in the regions in addition to the leadership of political progressives. The Medic One/EMS system is validated and strengthened by various levy funds that result in the provided services less valuable but not immune from the boom and busts of the economy and a system that has preserved its monetary homeostasis and futility despite the onset of the an debilitating economic recession (Public Health-Seattle and King County, N.d., pp. 10-11).

In 2012, a levy was proposed and passed for a rate of 33.5 cents/$1,000 AV, which translated into the average homeowner having to pay an estimated $107 annually beginning in 2014 if he or she wants to have instant access to emergency care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week throughout King County. This annually fee is $3 less than homeowners on average paid in 2008 for identical services. EMS systems have continued to shore up its financial and operation inefficiencies, which has enabled it to provide high-quality EMS services at an affordable price (Public Health–Seattle and King County, 2013, pp. 8-9).

Management Level

The Medic One/EMS system’s management is specialized relative to the organizational role within the system and there specific objectives. The leadership for the Medic One/EMS centralized coordinating role is the highest level of management in the system and has roles that focus on quality and efficiency in the system.

“The leadership of the Medical Program Director ensures the success and the ongoing medical quality improvement of the EMS system.” Indeed,  Mickey Eisenberg, MD, PhD, opted to take on this important role for more than a decade. His obligations included devising and implementing protocols , validating and overseeing the efficacy of EMT pedagogy and promoting  ways to improve medical education, thereby approbating any and all medical education for EMT technicians when needed.