GEMS | 13
highly respected Greenwich residents
and four ex-officio in the First Selectman,
the Director of Health, the President of
Greenwich Hospital and a representative
of the Greenwich Medical Society. The
securing of funds has enabled GEMS to
be very progressive in providing medical
care. As Tufts explains, “Through capital
fund raising, we can advance immediate-
ly when studies are completed showing
the efficacy of numerous advanced treat-
ments, such as in 1995 when we were the
first in the northeast to add the 12-lead
EKG capability, which for patients, meant
decreasing the time to receive vital care
by thirty-five to forty-five minutes. The
funding also helped in 1997 when GEMS
equipped every police car and marine unit
with Automatic External Defibrillators,
as well as a few years ago when we im-
plemented induced hypothermia care for
cardiac arrest victims ... these initiatives
have factored in our outstanding cardiac
arrest save rates.”
There are still challenges that GEMS is
striving to overcome. Adequate training
facilities, additional headquarters space
and proper garaging of fleet are identified
