Emergency Medicine Services (EMS) Division

Life Flight at UMass Memorial Medical Center (UMMMC), established in September 1982, was New England’s first dedicated air medical program staffed with nurse/paramedic response teams. Our Life Flight currently operates a state-of-the-art EC-135 aircraft and a dedicated ground ambulance for local missions during inclement weather. Life Flight responds to scene calls and conducts inter-hospital transports throughout a service area ranging from southern Connecticut to New Hampshire and from Boston, Massachusetts, to Albany, New York. The program transports approximately 800-900 patients each year. Air Methods, our Aviation Partner has equipped our Flight Team with Night Vision Goggles (NVGs) and provides the latest in terrain awareness and GPS technology to ensure safety. In addition, along with all of the other New England critical care transport programs, we have the ability via satellite to follow all air medical aircraft in flight in New England, in real time in our EMS Communications Center.

Worcester Emergency Medical Services (WEMS), operated by UMMHC since 1991, remains the primary 911 provider for the City of Worcester and, since 12/03/2000 for the adjacent town of Shrewsbury with six ambulances staffed by two paramedics each. With a call volume in excess of 30,000 per year, WEMS is the second busiest provider of 911 services in New England. In March 2009, WEMS began using a fully electronic patient care report. In addition, we have purchased Automatic Vehicle Locators for our ambulances, which allow the Communications Specialist to send the closest available truck to emergencies; new information terminals are installed in each ambulance allowing the Communications Specialist to send dispatch information directly to each ambulance in real-time. 

EMS Communications Center has transitioned to full Emergency Medical Dispatching (EMD) in order to enhance patient care. The Communications Center has many functions, including:

• Worcester EMS EMD and Ambulance Dispatching
• Life Flight and Critical Care Transport Operations
• Toxicology Consults
• Trauma Team Activation

Disaster Medicine Division

The division of Disaster Medicine was formed in October 2007 as part of University of Massachusetts’s Department of Emergency Medicine.  The division has grown over the years and disaster medicine work is currently covered in 3 distinct areas: Education, Operations and Research. 

Education

The disaster medicine division is committed to education and teaching of students at all levels. In April, 2008 we received approval from the Graduate Education Committee to develop a Disaster Medicine & Emergency Management Fellowship and our first fellow began the program in 2009.  Since that time, we have graduated 7 fellows who have gone on to practice emergency medicine with disaster medicine in a variety of locations, both academically and in the community, including Florida, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Connecticut. 

The division faculty are involved in teaching and disaster medicine initiatives such as curriculum development at local, regional, and national levels. This includes a regular DM lecture series, specific EM resident disaster education including a simulated active shooter scenario, annual day-long 3^rd year medical student disaster education day that includes hands-on PPE, BDLS/ADLS courses and yearly lectures to the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing.

Operations

UMass Memorial Medical Center has a robust and active Emergency Management program with several ongoing initiatives: Emergency Management Committee and Subcommittees; Joint Commission related activities; Community / Regional participation through the Worcester Metropolitan Medical Response System [MMRS] Program.  UMass is home base for MA-2 Disaster Medical Assistance Team [DMAT] and the division faculty have responded to disasters such as the Haiti earthquake (2010) and Hurricane Sandy (2012). The division works with all healthcare providers at UMass for Emerging Infectious Disease (EID), MCI, Active shooter and general disaster planning.

Research

The disaster division has multiple ongoing research projects. Division faculty regularly publish their research on many different topics within disaster medicine.

Finally, UMMMC sponsors a Tactical EMS Team and the opportunity exists for well-qualified individuals to apply to the team as a medical provider. In addition, we sponsor a Level 1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team, and there is the possibility for joining the team and deploying to natural disasters all across the United States. When disaster strikes -- such as earthquakes, fires, floods, or tornadoes -- The National Disaster Medical System (NDMS), a federal agency created in the early 1980's, may deploy Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs) from various regions to aid in the disaster relief effort. For information about the DMAT MA-2 team, please click here.