RT Book, Section
A1 Williams, Kenneth A.
A2 Cooney, Derek R.
SR Print(0)
ID 1126789014
T1 Medical Control, Direction, and Oversight
T2 Cooney's EMS Medicine
YR 2016
FD 2016
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9780071775649
LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1126789014
RD 2024/04/23
AB EMS  in  the  United  States  is  a  hierarchical  care  delivery  system,  with  physician  leaders  working  in  partnership  with  EMT/paramedic  providers  to  rescue,  care  for,  and  transport  patients.  Alternative  system  structures  are  possible,  and  work  well  in  other  countries  and  settings.  These  include  both  systems  with  more  physician  involvement  (physicians  routinely  staffing  ambulances),  and  systems  where  EMS  providers  organize  and  manage  their  system  with  little  or  no  physician  input.  The  US  model  includes  a  robust  prehospital  emergency  care  network  in  which  care  is  directly  provided  by  predominantly  nonphysician  prehospital  providers.  The  physician  role  in  this  type  of  system  is  heavily  weighted  toward  oversight  and  direction  of  the  system  and  through  direct  contact  with  providers  in  the  field  when  called  for  medical  control.  This  chapter  will  provide  an  overview  of  these  topics  and  following  chapters  will  provide  greater  detail  on  each  of  the  elements  discussed.