TY - JOUR
T1 - Medical direction of wilderness and other operational emergency medical services programs
AU - Warden, Craig R.
AU - Millin, Michael G.
AU - Hawkins, Seth C.
AU - Bradley, Richard N.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2012 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2012/3
Y1 - 2012/3
N2 - Within a healthcare system, operational emergency medical services (EMS) programs provide prehospital emergency care to patients in austere and resource-limited settings. Some of these programs are additionally considered to be wilderness EMS programs, a specialized type of operational EMS program, as they primarily function in a wilderness setting (eg, wilderness search and rescue, ski patrols, water rescue, beach patrols, and cave rescue). Other operational EMS programs include urban search and rescue, air medical support, and tactical law enforcement response. The medical director will help to ensure that the care provided follows protocols that are in accordance with local and state prehospital standards, while accounting for the unique demands and needs of the environment. The operational EMS medical director should be as qualified as possible for the specific team that is being supervised. The medical director should train and operate with the team frequently to be effective. Adequate provision for compensation, liability, and equipment needs to be addressed for an optimal relationship between the medical director and the team.
AB - Within a healthcare system, operational emergency medical services (EMS) programs provide prehospital emergency care to patients in austere and resource-limited settings. Some of these programs are additionally considered to be wilderness EMS programs, a specialized type of operational EMS program, as they primarily function in a wilderness setting (eg, wilderness search and rescue, ski patrols, water rescue, beach patrols, and cave rescue). Other operational EMS programs include urban search and rescue, air medical support, and tactical law enforcement response. The medical director will help to ensure that the care provided follows protocols that are in accordance with local and state prehospital standards, while accounting for the unique demands and needs of the environment. The operational EMS medical director should be as qualified as possible for the specific team that is being supervised. The medical director should train and operate with the team frequently to be effective. Adequate provision for compensation, liability, and equipment needs to be addressed for an optimal relationship between the medical director and the team.
KW - emergency medical services
KW - medical direction
KW - operational medicine
KW - search and rescue
KW - wilderness
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U2 - 10.1016/j.wem.2011.09.007
DO - 10.1016/j.wem.2011.09.007
M3 - Article
C2 - 22441087
AN - SCOPUS:84858689455
VL - 23
SP - 37
EP - 43
JO - Wilderness and Environmental Medicine
JF - Wilderness and Environmental Medicine
SN - 1080-6032
IS - 1
ER -