The Center for Emergency Medicine
(CEM), founded in 1978 and incorporated
in 1983, is a consortium of Pittsburgh-area hospitals and the
University Health Center of Pittsburgh, the largest single
medical campus in the U.S. Through its large residency program
(the University of Pittsburgh Affiliated Residency in Emergency
Medicine) the Center trains emergency physicians, and it also
conducts a highly-respected paramedic training program. The
Center provides medical command for the city of Pittsburgh, and
provides emergency ground and aeromedical transportation services
(STAT: Special Treatment And Transport). The Center for Emergency
Medicine is well-known for its research in emergency medicine and
prehospital care (the use of lighted stylets for intubation is a
recent CEM innovation). The Center publishes many papers in the
Annals of Emergency Medicine and other medical journals. It is
the center for Pennsylvania Basic Trauma Life Support training,
and it is the headquarters of the National Association of
Emergency Medical Services Physicians. Click
HERE to link to the Center's own Web page.
Contents:
- Office of Education
- Administration
- STAT: Special Treatment
and Transportation (STAT MEDEVAC is the Center's
helicopter program)
- Wilderness EMS
Institute
- Office of Research
- Office of
Infectioius Disease Control
- City of Pittsburgh,
Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency
Medical Services
- National Association of
EMS Physicians (NAEMSP)
- University of
Pittsburgh Affiliated Residency in Emergency Medicine
- Pittsburgh Emergency
Medicine Foundation
Functions:
- provide classes for lay public, pre-hospital providers,
and health care providers
- provide continuing education for clinicians
- research in education health care
- assist in programs and continuing education for city EMS
- educational resource for STAT and other CEM departments
- emergency medicine advocacy and representation -
government relations on local, state, and national levels
Benefits to CEM:
- improve quality of pre-hospital care through education of
the region's providers, which in turn reduces patient
morbidity and mortality
- program fees help support department
- increasing the professionalism of EMS
- increases the awareness of CEM and STAT through education
programs
Reporting Structure:
- direct line to CEM - departments of budget and payroll
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Functions:
- planning and marketing
- finance
- personnel
- office management
Benefits to CEM:
- fiscal accountability
- departmental accountability to CEO and Board of Directors
- strategic planning and implementation
- marketing for increased flight volumes and image-building
Reporting Structure:
- to Board of Directors
- CEO and COO over finance, marketing and public relations,
and personnel
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(STAT MEDEVAC is the Center's helicopter program)
Functions:
- provide quality air medical transport promptly and safely
- act as a feeder of patients to member hospitals
- advance the practice of air medical transport and care
through research and education
- coordinate critical care ground transports for member
hospital medical teams
Benefits to CEM:
- generating revenues for CEM and member hospitals
- strengthening the link between member hospitals
Mission:
- to provide quality air medical care and transport
promptly and safely and to be the service of choice among
customer base
Reporting Structure:
- direct line to CEM - departments of budget and payroll
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Functions:
- develop and maintain peer-reviewed wilderness EMS
curricula for physicians and out-of-hospital personnel
- foster wilderness EMS research
- provide model wilderness EMS system for Mid-Atlantic
states
Benefits to CEM:
- provides curriculum and oversight for CEM Wilderness EMT
and Wilderness Command Physician classes
- enhances reputation of the Center regionally -
internationally
- provides higher level of care in the field for
Mid-Atlantic wilderness EMS
Reporting Structure:
- WEMSI Medical Director and Executive Director appointed
jointly by and report to CEM Medical Director/
Appalachian Search and Rescue Conference Chairman
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Functions:
- research resource for residents, CEM office of education
and STAT, and University of Pittsburgh School of
Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine faculty
- initiate and conduct independent research
- teaching research and experimental design to residents
and staff
- soliciting funding for research grants
Benefits to CEM:
- increase awareness and enhance reputation internationally
- increase volume of research
- fulfill research goals of CEM mission
Mission:
- to advance emergency medicine technology and improve
patient care in emergency medicine through thorough,
accurate and comprehensive research
Reporting Structure:
- direct line to CEM - departments of budget and payroll
- Research Fellow Tom Auble's position is funded through
the Pittsburgh Emergency Medicine Foundation and the
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of
Pittsburgh
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OFFICE OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE CONTROL
Functions:
direct all infectious disease control activities for City of
Pittsburgh Department of Public Safety, including:
- inoculations
- in-service training
- infectious disease follow-up
Benefits to CEM:
- strengthening the link between the City of Pittsburgh
Department of Public Safety and CEM through this
contractual arrangement
Reporting Structure:
- direct line to CEM - Dave Berkowitz is a CEM employee
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CITY OF PITTSBURGH DEPARTMENT OF
PUBLIC SAFETY
Functions:
- to provide on-line and off-line medical direction for the
City of Pittsburgh EMS
- emergency medicine residents provide primary medical
command and respond to critical scene calls
Benefits to CEM:
- define standards of care for city EMS
- provide a higher level of care to patients treated in the
field
- provide clinical practice to do field research
- provide clinical practice to train emergency medicine
residents in EMS
- provide field opportunity for CEM EMT and EMT-P students
Reporting Structure:
- direct line to CEM - Paul Paris, M.D., is the medical
director of the City of Pittsburgh
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NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EMS PHYSICIANS (NAEMSP)
Functions:
- serves as a national professional organization for
emergency medicine physicians and other professionals
which provides opportunities for research, education, and
recognition
Benefits to CEM:
- provides national recognition to CEM through
organization's activities and representation
- additionally, CEM serves as the NAEMSP's executive and
national resource center
Reporting Structure:
- NAEMSP has separate budget and separate board
- has contract with CEM for space and administrative
services (payroll and business management)
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AFFILIATED RESIDENCY PROGRAM IN
EMERGENCY MEDICINE
Functions:
- training residents in numerous settings (emergency
department, university, hospital wards, pre-hospital
settings - aeromedical, jeep)
- fellowship offered in emergency medicine
- research in emergency medicine
Benefits to CEM:
- residents' training programs are integrated into many CEM
programs including office of education classes, STAT
operations, the jeep, office of research
- strengthens the tie between member hospitals clinically
and academically
- enhances reputation of the Center regionally -
internationally
- increases level of care at STAT
- provides higher level of care in the field for City of
Pittsburgh EMS
Reporting Structure:
- supported financially:
- Presbyterian University Hospital
- Mercy Hospital
- West Penn Hospital
- accreditation purposes: UHCP (University Health Center of
Pittsburgh) associate dean of graduate medical education
- academically: University of Pittsburgh, Department of
Emergency Medicine
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PITTSBURGH EMERGENCY MEDICINE FOUNDATION
Functions:
- fund raising for the CEM's offices of education and
research
Benefits to CEM:
- generating revenue and grant money
Reporting Structure:
- separate Board whose members are appointed by CEM's Board
of Directors
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