Iredell Medical Director Dr. Bryan Beaver was honored on June 16 with a plaque by county commissioners for his work with Iredell Emergency Medical Services. Pictured (from left) are Iredell County EMS Director Blair Richey, Medical Director Dr. Bryan Beaver, and County Commissioner Chairman James Mallory. In the back row (from left) are commissioners Gene Houpe and Ken Robertson.

BY KARISSA MILLER

When Dr. Bryan Beaver took the position of medical director for Iredell County in 2017, he had no idea the impact he would make in just a few quick years.

Beaver is leaving the county to move back to his home state of Kansas this month.

The Iredell County Board of Commissioners recognized him at the board’s June 16 meeting for his dedication to improving patient care.

Commissioner Chairman James Mallory said Beaver helped Emergency Medical Services handle the increase in call volume.

With Beaver’s guidance, EMS has participated in trials over the last few years that will improve patient care across the state and potentially the nation.

As a result, EMS has provided the best patient care practices available, often before other agencies have access to these services.

Beaver also provides the county’s EMS employees with continuing education each month.

This ensures that employees receive the highest level of instruction available and allows EMS the ability to treat patients with the highest level of care.

According to EMS Director Blair Richey, paramedics constantly encounter strange scenarios. The ability to discuss these with Dr. Brewer helps prepare them for whatever comes next.

“Having the authority of medical care in front of us in a group setting, asking those questions, and having the entire service experiencing an opportunity to hear the answers, simply cannot be recreated in any other format,” Richey said. “This format he created will be continued moving forward for the standard of Iredell EMS.”

Under Beaver’s leadership, Iredell EMS participated in CARES.

CARES stands for Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival, which is a collaborative effort of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Heart Association (AHA) and the Emory University Department of Emergency Medicine.

Iredell’s 2019 CARES Report for Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest includes the following data:

• An overall survival rate of 15.6%. This is higher than the NC average of 12.6% and national average of 10.5%.

• Iredell’s Bystander CPR rate is 55.3%. This means people that are trained are responding and know the correct methods of CPR. This is higher than the NC average of 36.9% and the National average of 41.6%.

• For phone calls in which ECOM provides CPR instructions, they receive compliance from the caller in following those instructions 64.2% of the time. The NC average is 51%. Instructions that are provided to the caller are dictated by the medical director. Dr. Beaver continued the “hands only CPR” initiative that helps gain participation in starting CPR before first responder arrival.