Episode 20- Dr. Eric Ernest and Rural EMS

Ed talks to Dr. Eric Ernest (@UNMCEMSDOC), medical director for the state of Nebraska, and wearer of many hats to discuss the differences in rural and urban/suburban EMS. What are the differences in care and preparation an EMS agency has to take when working in a rural setting? What about crew complements? Ed and Dr. Ernest discuss operations, research and financing as well. 

·     Received a $3m grant from Health and Human services to run a pilot program for regional disaster response 

·     Rural responses can be as much as double that of urban areas

·     There is some debate as to whether a response of less than 8 minutes reduces mortality

·     Concerns of sedation in long-term vs. short term transport, Ketamine does not prolong on-scene times compared to Haldol

2015: $6m received for deployment of LUCAS devices, CPRIC noted.Sedation for CPRIC may be beneficial, especially for long transports

Nebraska's RSI protocols can be found here. 

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