Program Overview

Department of Emergency Medicine

The Department of Emergency Medicine offers a comprehensive program for resident physicians, including a resident rotation in Emergency Medical Services (EMS).

EMS Resident Rotation

The EMS resident rotation provides longitudinal exposure to out-of-hospital operations. Residents ride along with first-responding "medic" crews and EMS district officers/supervisors. The rotation takes place aboard first-line, advanced life support transport units with the Baltimore City Fire Department, as well as with other affiliated EMS jurisdictions.

Intern Year

During the intern year, chief residents assign ride-along shifts with EMS units from the Baltimore City Fire Department (BCFD) or other affiliated EMS jurisdictions. Residents accompany EMS personnel and participate in the assessment and stabilization of acutely ill and injured patients. First-year emergency medicine residents also complete readings and presentations focused on EMS system design, composition, and operation, including:

• Overview of Maryland Emergency Medical Services
• Book chapter: EMS System Design
• Book chapter: EMS Personnel

Junior Year

In the junior year, residents are exposed to principles of mass gathering, emergency preparedness, and disaster response. Second-year residents learn about triage systems and the delivery of medical care in the setting of a mass gathering event or disaster. Other components of the second-year EMS curriculum include exposure to the Incident Command System via FEMA courses. Residents are also afforded the opportunity to ride along with the Maryland State Police Aviation Command. The curriculum includes:

• Overview of Triage and "SALT" Mass Casualty Triage
• EMS Triage
• Book chapters: Disaster Management and Mass Gathering Medical Care
• Book chapter: Medical Oversight of EMS Systems
• Book chapter: Legal Issues in EMS
• Prehospital Evidence-Based Medicine
• Selected Emergency Management and Disaster Didactics

Residents can also complete foundational courses in the Incident Management System (IMS), sponsored by FEMA, including:

• IS 100.c - Introduction to the Incident Command System
• IS 200.c - Basic Incident Command System for Initial Response
• IS 700.b - An Introduction to the National Incident Management System
• IS 800.c - National Response Framework, an introduction
• IS 907 - Active Shooter: What can you do
• IS 230.d - Fundamentals of Emergency Management
• IS 317: Introduction to Community Emergency Response Team

Senior Year

In the senior year, interested emergency medicine resident physicians can work with the EMS faculty to arrange a tailored EMS experience. A dedicated EMS elective can focus on a subspecialty or particular area of prehospital medical practice, such as:

1. Operational EMS program management
2. Tactical EMS program support
3. Administrative EMS interface
4. Mass gathering EMS and emergency public health
5. Educational EMS program support

Residents will continue riding along with ALS transport units and have the opportunity to shadow an EMS district officer. Residents are encouraged to broaden their exposure to EMS and can take advantage of "fly-along" shifts with the Maryland State Police, critical care transport shifts with Maryland ExpressCare (both ground and air), and dispatch observation shifts at MIEMSS. Experiences are also available in other EMS jurisdictions, including Baltimore and Montgomery Counties.