Clinton County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) has become the first EMS agency in Indiana to adopt body-worn cameras. Following a successful trial period, the department has decided to move forward with the permanent deployment of five cameras.
EMS Director Steven Deckard says the cameras will provide several key benefits, namely enhancing and increasing provider and patient accountability and improving quality of care. “Our team works tirelessly to help others, and these cameras will help improve patient care. The audio and video will allow us to review and assess the performance of our responders. The video will also help us train new EMTs and paramedics in a wide range of real-world situations.”
According to the National Association of State Emergency Medical Services Officials (NASEMSO), EMS agencies respond to more than 28.5 million calls annually, many of which present a range of unpredictable and dangerous situations.
“We are proud to be the first EMS agency in Indiana to implement this technology,” says Jordan Brewer, president of the Clinton County Commissioners. “The deployment of these body cameras sets a new standard in the industry, further positioning our EMS as a leader in the state of Indiana.”
Patients can request the cameras be turned off so long as the EMS crew feels the situation is safe enough to do so. The recordings will be kept for up to 90 days in Axon Evidence, a cloud-based digital evidence management system used by law enforcement agencies to securely store, manage, and share digital evidence, unless an incident arises that warrants the files to be saved.