Emergency Medical Services and Disaster Medicine
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John Broach, MD, MPH, MBA, FACEP Medical Director, Division of EMS and Disaster Medicine |
Stacy Weisberg, MD, MPH, FACEP, FAEMS Associate Medical Director, Division of EMS EMS Fellowship Director |
Associate Medical Director, Division of EMS |
Life Flight
Life Flight for UMass Memorial Medical Center (UMMMC), established in September 1982, was New England’s first dedicated air medical program. 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.
Click here for more about Life Flight.
Worcester EMS (WEMS)
Worcester EMS remains the primary 911 provider for the City of Worcester and the town of Shrewsbury. With a call volume in excess of 30,000 per year, Worcester EMS is the second busiest provider of 911 services in New England.
In March 2009, Worcester EMS began using a fully electronic patient care report. In addition, we have purchased Automatic Vehicle Locators for our ambulances, which allows the Communications Specialist to always be able to send the closest truck to emergencies and new information terminals are installed in each ambulance, and allowing the Communications Specialist to send dispatch information directly to each ambulance in real-time.
EMS Communications Center
The 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
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.