OnStar Helps Deliver Baby?!

For all you fans of GMC and Buick vehicles with OnStar, this article is for you…

It’s not necessarily part of an OnStar advisor’s job requirements to help bring a new baby into the world, but that’s just what one of these professionals did by coaching a pregnant woman through her labor. Other advisors have talked frantic individuals through providing a child with CPR, even instructing them on how to stem serious hemorrhaging, while they waited for emergency medical services to arrive on the scene.

Critical services like these are thanks to OnStar First Assist, which enables specially-trained and certified emergency advisors to provide emergency medical dispatch service to motor vehicle users while they wait for the police, fire station or ambulance to arrive.

Just today, OnStar gained recognition as the first privately run, non-emergency company to be considered a Medical Accredited Center of Excellence by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED). The company was able to measure up to the IAED’s 20-point accreditation guidelines and has been lauded for its rigorous compliance with the standards set by the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS). The MPDS is a standardized, medically approved system that decides the seriousness of an emergency and directs advisors on how to provide medical instruction in a variety of situations until help can get there.

Out of the nearly 3,000 organizations and 911 call centers that have adopted the MPDS protocol, less than five percent of them have earned OnStar’s level of accreditation.

According to Terry Inch, the Chief Operating Officer for OnStar, “This level of accreditation sets us among uncommon company. Because our advisors can provide direction that measures up to the IAED’s strict protocol, it testifies to the seriousness with which we treat our responsibility to aid customers and to the hard work of our skilled personnel.”

The First Assist program, which came online back in 2010, is relied upon roughly 1,200 times per month. It is used for emergencies ranging from treating obstructed airways, bites from venomous snakes and even diabetic shock.

Dr. Jeff Clawson, the mind behind the MPDS, says, “The advisors make use of the protocols, are trained in them and work in a time-sensitive environment where it has to be done correctly the first time. I consider what OnStar does a no-brainer. The first person to help a patient is going to make the biggest impact.”

The MPDS, which serves over 600 million people across the globe, is the planet’s most-used standardized system of its class. Every year, the MPDS is responsible for saving many thousands of lives. To gain accreditation, there must be comprehensive compliance with standards as well as certification for any call-takers who provide EMD services.

Cathy Bishop, OnStar’s global emergency manager, says, “The faster someone can be helped, the more likely they are to survive and heal. We know that 911 call centers are profoundly bust, and in the interest of cooperation, if we can help offset some of the load with our services, then everybody wins.”

In the last 17 years, OnStar’s advisors have fielded almost 2 million emergencies and have lead countless emergency response teams to car accidents and other incidents. Bishop states, “There is no other automobile company who provides this sort of on-the-scene medical service. Much of the time, we’re connected to the victims and providing help before the car even comes to a standstill.”

OnStar advisors who wish to become emergency advisors are required to go through rigorous training beforehand. This includes maintaining an excellent track record, attending weeks of emergency courses, being certified in CPR, gaining certification from the IAED and more.

Last year, the OnStar First Assist program was given the Gold Edison Award for being the best new personal safety and security provider.

(Press release via GMC News)