Overview
Prehospital Medicine Opportunities
Contact Information

Overview

Emergency Medical Services, an integral part of emergency medicine, is emphasized in our residency program. We also have an active fellowship and paramedic training institute.

Pre-hospital medical care services are provided by the Mecklenburg Emergency Medical Services Agency (Medic) under the medical directorship of Tom Blackwell, MD, of the Department of Emergency Medicine.

• Responds to more than 75,000 calls each year, transporting about 60,000 patients to area hospitals
• All advanced life support service
• Medical priority dispatch system and a robust system status plan
• Fluid redeployment strategy, along with GIS mobile mapping, position ambulances at calculated locations at specific periods of the day
• 200+ field employees, 25 telecommunicators, 44 ambulances

Air medical services are provided by MedCenter Air under the medical directorship of Doug Swanson, MD, of the Department of Emergency Medicine.

• MCA now has third rotor wing base operational in Rock Hill, SC.  The three bases are: Carolinas Medical Center; Grace Memorial Hospital in Morganton, N.C.; and the Rock Hill-York County Airport in Rock Hill, S.C.
• Air fleet includes two helicopters, 3 fixed wing aircraft - 2 Cessna Citations jets and 1 Beechcraft Super King Air 200 twin turboprops from the Charlotte Douglas International Airport.  There is also an additional turboprop utilized by the organ procurement team.
• MCA currently has critical care ground trucks at Carolinas Medical Center and Grace Memorial Hospital.  There is an ALS ambulance at Anson Community Hospital in Wadesboro, N.C.  The Neonatal ambulance operates out of Carolinas Medical Center.
• Transports over 3,000 patients per year, 1,200 flights
• Scene response: 40 percent; inter-facility transfer: 60 percent

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Prehospital Medicine Opportunities

Opportunities for resident participation in prehospital medicine are extensive. In the PGY-1 year, each resident rides one shift with paramedics during each of four months in the ED. PGY-2 and PGY-3 residents provide online medical control through the base communications station. A one-month rotation in EMS is required during the PGY-2 year. This rotation incorporates field EMS treatment focusing on patient care and political issues affecting EMS (participation in quality improvement, run reviews, and other administrative functions). Resident experience in the air medical component is also an option.

PGY-3 can participate in a one-month elective.  The PGY-3 may assume on scene medical control and will fly as the second crew member.  Residents will also lead MedCenter Air M&M, and take part in crew skills check-offs and case reviews as they arise during the month.

Carolinas Medical Center has a one- or two-year EMS fellowship program that incorporates the option for a master’s in public health administration. Up to two candidates are accepted each year. The program is a Society for Academic Emergency Medicine - Physio Control approved site. Twelve post-graduate fellows have graduated from the program since its inception.

In 1995, the Department of Emergency Medicine established the Center for Prehospital Medicine. Faculty from the center provide on-line and off-line medical direction and oversight to the Mecklenburg EMS Agency; MedCenter Air flight service; Charlotte Fire Department; Mecklenburg County volunteer first responder departments; Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department SWAT Team, Aviation Unit, Field Forces, and Lake Patrol; Charlotte FBI SWAT Team, Charlotte Office of the United States Secret Service; Charlotte-Douglas International Airport Police; and Paramount's Carowinds Theme Park.

Medical oversight is also provided for Carolinas Medical Center's Special Events Medical Service, which offers emergency medical care at Lowe's Motor Speedway for major NASCAR events; the Charlotte Convention Center and Knights Stadium. The focal point for all center activities involves prehospital education. Affiliated with Carolinas College of Health Sciences, the paramedic training and EMS degree programs are administered and taught by the Center for Prehospital Medicine's five full-time and three adjunct faculty members.

Faculty from the Center for Prehospital Medicine have been instrumental in developing and administering the Advanced Local Emergency Response Team (ALERT). This is a multi-agency team of law enforcement, fire and emergency medical personnel designed to mitigate a terrorist incident involving a weapon of mass destruction. The team has received national recognition as one of the top programs in the United States.

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