EMS Experience

The ECU Department of Emergency Medicine provides EMS medical direction for several North Carolina counties that include urban, suburban and rural settings. EMS medical direction is also provided for ECU Health EastCare, a hospital-based air and ground critical care transport service with five helicopters and five ambulances, that cover the eastern third of North Carolina a geographic area the size of the state of Maryland with a population of over 1.8 million. The Medical Directors for these EMS agencies are department faculty members involved in all facets of EMS planning, education, operations, quality management and medical oversight. The EMS faculty includes over a half dozen physicians that are board certified in both EMS and EM, who are actively involved with the EMS fellowship program.

The EMS curriculum for emergency medicine residents is a three-year longitudinal experience. During the first year, residents are given introductory didactic EMS lectures covering the history of EMS, scope of practice, air medical services and disaster management. Interns also become familiar with the local EMS system by riding in the field with EMS providers. At the end of the year, interns complete a Base Station Course that includes both online didactic and a simulation portion. Following completion of the Base Station Course, emergency medicine residents in the Emergency Department provide on-line medical direction via radio and telephone for both air and ground EMS.  During this year, they have a two-week dedicated EMS rotation during which they complete ride alongs in the EMS physician vehicle and with our local county EMS professions, as well as EMS Journal Club and skills testing.

During the second year and third year EMS experiences include: field ride alongs East Care for interfacility transports and scene runs, additional lectures during conference, and opportunities to continue to participate in community education and local event management.

Residents become familiar with disaster management both during their EMS rotations and throughout their entire residency training. Optional EMS electives include 4-week rotations available for ground and/or air medical experiences. Lastly, there are numerous other EMS opportunities including: mass gathering events (airshows and sporting events), disaster management and EMS research pr.