Emergency Medical Services at Maricopa Medical Center

Prehospital medicine is rapidly evolving. At Maricopa Medical Center, we believe that as emergency physicians we are in the best position to assist and direct the future of prehospital care.

MMC is a Base Hospital responsible for the off line medical control of three different EMS agencies: two air services (LifeNet and Eagle Air Med) and one ground-based program (Sacred Mountain Ambulance Service). Online medical direction is provided to the programs that base at MMC and numerous other agencies. Currently residents and attendings are responsible for over 4500 radio communications a year. MMC receives approximately 7000 patients a year by ground EMS and 2000 patients a year by air ambulances.

Education of the prehospital providers in our community is an important aspect of our program. The emergency medicine residents and attending physicians help present over 20 formal chart reviews and 20 CME lectures every year. In addition, our program provides instruction in multiple procedure, airway, and cadaver labs a year. All residents are required to present at least one formal prehospital lecture during their residency tenure.

Research in the prehospital arena is growing at Maricopa Medical Center. Recent and current projects include: prehospital activation of the MMC Cardiac Cath Lab for STEMI, Dispatcher-Assisted CPR instructions, F.A.S.T. 1 a sternal intraosseus device; ILMA (intubating laryngeal mask airway) as a rescue airway; prehospital arrival as a predictor for hospital admission; decision rules for CHF in the prehospital setting; and the use of propofol for fixed wing air medical transport. The relationships we have developed with LifeNet, the Phoenix, Mesa and other municipal Fire Departments, PMT Ambulance and Southwest Ambulance provide us with enormous educational and research opportunities.

To fully appreciate patient care in the Pre-hospital setting our philosophy is that residents should spend time in the field gaining practical experience. Residents are required to ride along with our crews a minimum of 48 hours during the Residency. Residents have the opportunity to fly with aeromedical services; however, it has always been our policy that no one is required to fly.

We have a month long elective which has been designed to give the participating resident a framework that can be used to create an EMS experience that covers the core areas of EMS and yet allows for personalizing the elective to cover in more depth areas of one’s own interest.

In 2011 we began an EMS/Resuscitation Science Fellowship based at Maricopa Medical Center. The Fellow is integrally involved in prehospital medicine operations, administration and research at Maricopa Medical Center, the Arizona Department of Health Services, and University of Arizona Emergency Medicine Research Center and the Sarver Heart Center. The Fellow also works with residents and medical students during teaching conference, required EMS rotation, EMS electives, and with EMS- and Resuscitation-related research projects.

Residents who would like to gain additional training and experiences in pre-hospital care are limited only by their own creativity and ingenuity. Residents have been involved in many different electives and EMS activities, such as being Medical Director for a volunteer ambulance service, participating in State EMS committees, event (race) medicine, urban and mountain search and rescue, EMS administrative elective, paramedic education in many venues, and flight physician for a fixed winged program.

We believe that the exposure our residents receive in prehospital care at MMC will provide a solid foundation in EMS. The numerous and varied experiences available will allow each resident to be prepared for future involvement in EMS at whatever level they choose.