Physician Field Response
We believe that it is important for medical directors to be present and visible. One way that we can accomplish this is through field response. Field response allows our physicians to support EMS providers directly while also offering invaluable experience to learners seeking to develop a better understanding of prehospital operations and patient care. UW EMS physicians operate two vehicles that are equipped for emergency response.
BADGER-1
BADGER-1 is designated as our primary physician response vehicle. We strive to staff this vehicle 24/7/365 so that it can be requested to the scene of an emergency.
BADGER-2
BADGER-2 is designated as our EMS outreach vehicle. This vehicle is primarily used to support our physicians in reaching our agencies for in-person training and station visits. The vehicle is equipped for emergency response, if needed.
How Are EMS Physicians Dispatched?
EMS providers can request a BADGER-1 response in Dane County through dispatch. Depending on the location of the incident relative to the position of the BADGER-1, our on-call physician will advise whether a field response is feasible.
EMS providers who are employed by agencies that contract with UW for medical direction can contact the on-call EMS physician to discuss a case and determine whether a field response is feasible.
EMS physicians staffing the response vehicle may assign themselves to certain incidents. When we self-dispatch, our intent is to to meet and interact with crews or to observe how patient care is performed in the field. This helps ensure that our protocols and quality improvement initiatives are not out-of-touch with the reality of providing care in the field.
The physician response vehicle is also used by our ACGME-accredited EMS fellowship, which trains future EMS physicians. Since some EMS fellows have not worked in EMS previously, it is important that they have adequate exposure to field operations during their training. While EMS fellows will complete ride-along shifts with front line EMS units, the response vehicles grant the flexibility to respond to incidents occurring across the entire system.
Most of the time that we self-dispatch, we will not use lights and sirens to respond. We do not take over patient care when we arrive on scene, unless requested by the lead EMS clinician. Our success as medical directors is demonstrated when EMS providers provide high-quality patient care without a physician being directly involved.
In general, BADGER-1 does not respond outside of Dane County because the long response times make ground response infeasible for most incidents. EMS clinicians can consider requesting BADGER-1 for incidents anticipated to have lengthy operational periods (e.g., disaster response).
For other incidents outside of Dane County that require a physician response, we recommend considering a Med Flight response.
Med Flight is one of the most prestigious helicopter EMS programs in the United States, and the only one that staffs an attending physician on every flight. Med Flight bring enormous capability to the scene of an incident, and several of the Med Flight physicians are also board-certified in EMS.
MD On Call (MDOC)
An EMS physicians is available for consultation 24/7/365 for agencies with UW medical direction. While it is appropriate for receiving hospitals to provide routine medical control, we believe that is important for EMS clinicians to have quick access to an EMS physician who understands their protocols and practice environment when unusual or challenging situations are encountered.
When consulted, our physicians will serve as medical control, with the ability to provide orders for treatments or termination of resuscitation.