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The Development and Implementation of a Hospital Emergency Response Team (HERT) for Out-of-Hospital Surgical Care

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2012

Christopher Scott ,
Brant Putnam ,
Scott Bricker ,
Laura Schneider ,
Stephanie Raby ,
William Koenig  and
Marianne Gausche-Hill
Christopher Scott*
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California USA
Brant Putnam
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California USA Department of Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California USA Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California USA
Scott Bricker
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California USA Department of Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California USA Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California USA
Laura Schneider
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California USA
Stephanie Raby
Affiliation:
County of Los Angeles EMS Agency, Department of Health Services, Santa Fe Springs, California USA
William Koenig
Affiliation:
County of Los Angeles EMS Agency, Department of Health Services, Santa Fe Springs, California USA
Marianne Gausche-Hill
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California USA Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California USA Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California USA
*
Correspondence: Christopher Scott, MD Department of Emergency Medicine Harbor-UCLA Medical Center 1000 W Carson St., Box 21 Torrance, CA 90509 USA E-mail cscott422@gmail.com
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Abstract

Over the past two decades, Los Angeles County has implemented a Hospital Emergency Response Team (HERT) to provide on-scene, advanced surgical care of injured patients as an element of the local Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system. Since 2008, the primary responsibility of the team has been to perform surgical procedures in the austere field setting when prolonged extrication is anticipated. Following the maxim of “life over limb,” the team is equipped to provide rapid amputation of an entrapped extremity as well as other procedures and medical care, such as anxiolytics and advanced pain control. This report describes the development and implementation of a local EMS system HERT.

Scott C, Putnam B, Bricker S, Schneider L, Raby S, Koenig W, Gausche-Hill M. The development and implementation of a Hospital Emergency Response Team (HERT) for out-of-hospital surgical care. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2012;27(3):1-5.

Keywords

amputationEmergency Medical ServicesEMStrauma
Type
Special Report
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 27 , Issue 3 , June 2012 , pp. 267 - 271
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2012

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