Guideline 1-700 - EMS Operations

CMH EMS & MIH Protocols

Scope:

Guideline:

Ambulances shall operate and function efficiently to provide safe and exceptional patient care.

Purpose:

The purpose of this guideline is to outline procedures to be used to improve safety and efficency in ambulance operations.

Procedure:

1. First responder personnel will assume patient care from initial patient contact until face-to-face verbal report given to transporting ambulance crew.
1. Verbal report shall include, but not limited to: Patient history, current status, and treatments provided. Refer to Guideline 1-400-72 - Patient Handoff Report.
2. Available documentation should also be transferred (i.e. ECGs, patient information, etc.).
2. Ambulance personnel should acknowledge within 60 seconds of call notification. The responding ambulance is expected to be en route within 60 seconds of call notification on priority 1 and priority 2 calls.
3. Ambulance personnel will assume patient care from initial patient contact or face-to-face verbal report from on-scene medical personnel until face-to-face verbal report given to flight crew or receiving facility.
4. In a multi-patient incident, ambulance personnel will continue patient care until care can be transferred to appropriate in-coming ambulance with face-to-face verbal report.
5. In the event of mechanical difficulty or other situation requiring transferring a patient to another ambulance, CMH crew may maintain patient care in the new ambulance (even if the new ambulance is not a CMH ambulance).
6. While ON duty, AEMTs, RNs, Paramedics, and Community Paramedic may provide Advanced Life Support according to these protocols if the following conditions are met:
1. The ALS-provider is currently licensed in the state of Missouri AND
2. The agency the provider is officially responding with is a currently licensed Emergency Medical Response Agency (EMRA) or ALS-level Ambulance Service with MO BEMS.
7. While OFF duty, EMTs, AEMTs, RNs, Paramedics, and Community Paramedics currently employed with an agency that has adopted these protocols may provide Basic Life Support following to these protocols.
1. Ensure 9-1-1 is contacted and an ambulance is responding as appropriate.
8. While OFF duty, AEMTs, RNs, Paramedics, and Community Paramedics may provide Advanced Life Support according to these protocols if the following conditions are met:
1. Ensure 9-1-1 is contacted and an ambulance is responding as appropriate,
2. All provisions allowing on-duty ALS care must also be met,
3. A CMH ambulance must be the transporting unit, AND
4. The ALS care rendered must be within the scope of practice of the on-duty CMH provider taking patient care (OR the off-duty ALS provider must be the ambulance attendent during transport).
9. Ambulance crew documentation: Refer to Guideline 1-700-33 - Documenter Reference Sheet.

CMH Pre-Hospital Services Mission: "Provide safe, exceptional, and compassionate care to our communities with an emphasis on highly trained and empowered staff."

CMH Mobile Integrated Healthcare Mission: "Provide exceptional, compassionate, and patient-centered care by a mobile collaborative team to improve patient experience, improve quality outcomes, and reduce healthcare costs."

Polk, Hickory, Cedar, & St Clair County EMS Protocols is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.