The “integrated” medical director is someone who is approachable, accessible, and understands the unique needs and challenges of the specific agency. By getting to know the community, personnel, and current state, the medical director is able to make the training, QA/QI (quality assurance and quality improvement), collaboration, and advancement of patient care in the prehospital realm progressive, exciting, and collaborative.

Reliable and consistent case review for QA/QI is the foundation to providing quality care. Making QA/QI of cases the rule and not the exception, it breaks down the mental barriers and fear of “my case is being reviewed” to a recognized system and educational opportunity for everyone.

Training needs are unique to each system. Some have the ability to provider their training in house, and others may need more personnel, equipment, or curricula. We can use the resources of UCHealth MEDIC Program and our collaborative team of experts to help provide whatever is needed for quality EMS training.

Prehospital care is constantly changing, with many new technological advances and evidence-based practice changes. The team should be up to date and educated on all of these areas so they can bring this information and training to the prehospital realm in a timely manner. 

Medicine is a team sport in every way, and this is not any different. The medical director, agencies, municipalities, hospitals and communities are all on the same team with the same goal and each plays an essential role in the development of this program and in the growth of prehospital care.  

The protocols under which providers practice need to fit the community and agency’s needs. This means continuous protocol review and revision, as well as easy access to online medical direction for those calls that “don’t fit the mold.”

As technology advances and the face of medicine changes, EMS should not be left behind. Understanding how particular virtual and medical developments can benefit the community are part of the system, and having access to these in all areas is essential.