---
title: Raising the Quality of Care One EMS Protocol/Standard at a Time
description: Within a year of working as the EMS Coordinator, Raymond (Ray) Proa made Fort Mojave Mesa Fire Department (FMMFD) a progressive EMS provider that is one of only a handful in the country, and the first in the state, doing Head Up CPR.
---

[ZOLL Pulse Blog: EMS, Fire & Healthcare Insights | ZOLL Data Systems ](https://www.zolldata.com/blog)

# [Raising the Quality of Care One EMS Protocol/Standard at a Time](https://www.zolldata.com/blog/raising-the-quality-of-care-one-ems-protocol/standard-at-a-time)

 Written by [Lindsay Alexander](https://www.zolldata.com/blog/author/lindsay-alexander) | May 31, 2018 1:30:00 PM

Within a year of working as the EMS Coordinator, Raymond (Ray) Proa made [Fort Mojave Mesa Fire Department (FMMFD)](http://www.fmmfd.org/) a progressive EMS provider that is one of only a handful in the country, and the first in the state, doing Head Up CPR. Ray was able to juggle all crew training, QA/QI, grant writing, meetings and equipment research while working a 48/96 schedule over the span of a year. He was recently awarded Firefighter of the Year for his hard work and accomplishments. Ray is a [ZOLL Pulse Award winner](https://www.zolldata.com/customer-recognition). Here’s why:

 

**Making the Necessary Changes to Standards & Procedures**

After doing an honest department assessment of FMMFD’s EMS capabilities Ray decided to make certain changes needed to bring FMMFD to a top EMS provider level. This involved:

1. Rewriting protocols and procedures
2. Upgrading and purchasing new equipment
3. Standardized monthly training of at least 1 CEU class a month
4. Picking one EMS Protocol/standard a year and bringing it up to cutting edge practices

 

**Leveraging Tools to Consistently Deliver High-Quality CPR**

By purchasing and using the [X Series](https://www.zoll.com/Products/Emergency-Care/Monitors-and-Defibrillators/X-Series-Advanced), [AutoPulse](https://www.zoll.com/medical-products/resuscitation-system/autopulse/ems), [ResQpod](https://www.zoll.com/Products/Emergency-Care/Trauma-Kits/ResQSystem) and [ZOLL software](https://www.zolldata.com/), the agency decided they had the necessary tools to target cardiac arrest as the goal of improvement. Using Rialto Fire and ZOLL as resources, a Head Up CPR standard was drawn up and approved by the medical director. As a new [Handtevy instructor](https://www.handtevy.com/solutions/pre-hospital/), Ray is also planning to bring the best practices to how the agency provides care to pediatric cardiac arrest.

 

**In His Own Words: Why We Should All Strive to Continually Raise the Bar**

“My personal crew has more than 50 years of combined paramedic experience. I basically took what they knew of cardiac arrest and threw it in the trash. Remember, these changes don't occur overnight. It's the equivalent of moving a huge pile of dirt. Somedays you only move a spoonful. Some days you move a truck load. As long as you’re moving it, that’s all that counts. I can't think of any fire department that should be able to look their citizens in the face and tell them they are comfortable meeting the minimum standard in cardiac arrest.”

[View full post](https://www.zolldata.com/blog/raising-the-quality-of-care-one-ems-protocol/standard-at-a-time)

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