EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES (EMS)
The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) section of the Department of Emergency Medicine serves the largest patient catchment area in the United States with broad EMS urban and rural coverage throughout Utah and the surrounding states.
Through our EMS Directorships, we strive to provide the highest level of care to our patients, even before they arrive at the hospital.
EDUCATION RESOURCES
- Prehospital Education for EMS Providers
- EMS Contact Information
University of Utah Emergency Medical Services Faculty:
Section Chief, Emergency Medical Services Program at University of Utah
Chief Medical Officer, Salt Lake City Fire Department, Salt Lake City 911 and VECC911
Associate Editor, Prehospital Emergency Care
State EMS Medical Director, Office of EMS and Preparedness, Utah Department of Health and Human Services
Medical Director, West Valley City Fire and EMS
EMS Medical Director Representative, National EMS Advisory Council, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Medical Director, University of Utah AirMed
Editor-in-Chief, Air Medical Journal
Chair, Utah Air Ambulance Committee
Medical Director, Summit County EMS
Associate Medical Director and Flight Physician, AirMed
Director, U of U Boeing and NASA Medical Landing Team
Medical Director, Unified Fire Authority
Medical Director, Golden Spike & Dinosaur National Monuments and Capitol Reef National Park
Board of Directors, Wilderness Medical Society
EMS Fellowship Program Director
EMS Fellowship Assistant Program Director
Medical Director, Event & Disaster Medicine
Associate Medical Director, SLC Fire
EMS FELLOWSHIP
EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES NEWS & INFORMATION:
Community Bridge Program (or "Bring Bridge to the Streets"):
Partnership with EMS and USARA to Bring Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder to the Patients Who Need It Most
The West Valley City Fire Department and the Salt Lake City Fire Department are participating in a state-approved pilot program with the Utah Support Advocates for Recovery Awareness (USARA) called the Community Bridge Program. This program is adopting a new EMS protocol which allows the administration of buprenorphine in the field to adult patients (age 18 and over) who have been administered naloxone and are medically stable and awake with normal mentation. These patients are then offered enrollment directly into the U of U Huntsman Mental Health Institue Addiction Recovery Bridge Program (well-known to our Emergency Department colleagues). The new EMS/USARA outreach program launched in February of 2024.
The program works as follows: A patient sustains an overdose and receives naloxone in the field by EMS or others (police, family, etc.). The patient is assessed by EMS and any supportive care measures performed. A stable, awake and oriented patient is then offered and administered buprenorphine in order to minimize their withdrawl symptoms from the naloxone. The patient is then offered transport to an area hospital for further care and medical evaluation.
USARA is contacted to attend the patient at the scene or, if the patient agrees to be transported, in the ED. They respond 24/7/365. The USARA peer support counselor meets the patient and offers the patient enrollment into the Bridge program to begin addition recovery therapy. If the patient agrees to treatment, a 7-day prescription of buprenorphine will be provided by Drs. Peter Taillac and Scott Youngquist (respectively, the medical directors of WVC Fire Department and the SLC Fire Department). The patient is then proactively contacted by the Huntsman Mental Health Institute Addiction Recovery Bridge Clinic in the next 24-48 hours for continued care with the intention of stabilizing their medications and personal circumstances and finally to transition them into long-term OUD treatment in the community. The medications and initial HMHI Bridge Clinic care are free to the patient. This program is supported by grant funding from both the Salt Lake County Mayor's Office and the Utah Department of Substance Use and Mental Health, as well as the WVC and SLC Fire Departments.
Although this program is new, we have already entered patients into the treatment program and anticipate growing numbers as we progress. We are indeed excited to "Bring Bridge to the Streets" in order to offer treatment to as many OUD patients as possible.
Dr. Chris Ryba and University Event Medical Services teach the Utah Jazz to do CPR and use an AED
National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP) Meeting, Tampa, Florida; January 2023
Papers, Lectures, Abstracts & Posters by U of U EMS Faculty:
- RAPToR Course: Can REBOA be used in medical cardiac arrest?
- Advanced Topics in Medical Direction: Early Intramuscular Epinephrine for Cardiac Arrest
- Advanced Topics in Medical Direction: Best Practices in the Treatment of Patients with Behavioral Health Emergencies
"Prehospital Clinicians Perceive Benefit to the EMS System with Medical Director Scene Response"
Holbrook Hill Stoecklein, Christopher Ryba, Michael Stroud, Scott Youngquist
University of Utah, Salt Lake City Fire Department
"Appropriateness of Patient Transport beyond the Nearest Facility: A Descriptive Assessment of Resource Utilization in a Semi-Rural EMS System"
Holbrook Stoecklein, Christopher Ryba, Isabel Shimanski, Joe Carnell
University of Utah, Mountain West Ambulance Service
"Invest in Knowledge: a successful, education-based provider Vaccination Campaign"
Graham Brant-Zawadzki
