The blue, gold and white Ford Expedition with the St. Lukes logo on its doors rushed along Schoenersville Road in Bethlehem on route to assist an ambulance crew caring for a patient with an unusual, life-threatening medical emergency.

This specialized vehicle is a key component of a new partnership between St. Lukes Emergency Medicine Department and Northampton County, aimed at saving more lives at on-scene accidents and incidents in Bethlehem.

Bryan Wilson, MD, St. Lukes EMS Fellowship Director and Director the EMS Response program, explained: This new collaboration with Northampton County and our first-responder partners puts our fellowship-trained emergency medical services faculty physicians and fellows in the field in a mobile manner to supplement and support the medically complex care provided by emergency medical technicians (EMT) and paramedics in the community.

St. Lukes mobile EMS Response Team is the first one of its kind in the Lehigh Valley area, currently serving ambulance units from the City of Bethlehem EMS, Suburban EMS and Bethlehem Township Volunteer Fire Company and expecting to add other units in the future.

The grant-funded $250,000 vehicle, like a mini-ER on wheels, is equipped with state-of-the-art heart monitor/defibrillator, integrated CPR and ventilation feedback devices, life-saving medications, advanced airway management supplies and a hand-held ultrasound machine. Plans are underway to carry emergency blood for on-scene transfusions when there is major blood loss.

Dr. Wilson was behind the wheel of the Ford that day, responding to a request for assistance from the EMS crew. Together, he and the EMS crew worked with staff from a cardiologists office to save the patients life after his pacemaker malfunctioned. The team was able to safely deliver the living patient to a nearby hospital for follow-up care.

Based at St. Lukes Anderson Campus, the EMS Response Team receives requests from an ambulance crew through Northampton Countys 911 Center. The Response Team also provides continuing hands-on emergency medicine education to first responders in the county. These services help show EMS clinicians how much we value their expertise and possibly address recruitment and retention issues faced by EMS services professionals across the region, added Dr. Wilson.

What the EMS Response Team brings to that on-scene setting are extra hands and an advanced understanding of the patients pathophysiology (disease processes), so we can better the direct the care of the patient, in partnership with the on-scene EMTs and paramedics, thinking outside of the box, when necessary, to save lives.

Photo caption: Bryan Wilson, MD, St. Lukes EMS Fellowship Director and Director the EMS Response program.

About St. Lukes

Founded in 1872,St. Lukes University Health Network(SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 20,000 employees providing services at 15 campuses and 350+ outpatient sites. With annual net revenue of $3.4 billion, the Networks service area includes 11 counties in two states: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. St. Lukes hospitals operate the largest network of trauma centers in Pennsylvania, with the Bethlehem Campus being home to St. Lukes Childrens Hospital.

Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Lukes is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania. In partnership with Temple University, the Network established the Lehigh Valleys first and only four-year medical school campus. It also operates the nations oldest School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 52 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with more than 500 residents and fellows. In 2022, St. Lukes, a member of the Childrens Hospital Association, opened the Lehigh Valleys first and only free-standing facility dedicated entirely to kids.

SLUHN is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicaresfive-starratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction. It is both a Leapfrog Group and HealthgradesTop Hospitaland a Newsweek WorldsBest Hospital. The Networks flagship University Hospital has earned the100 Top Major Teaching Hospitaldesignation from Fortune/PINC AI 10 years in a row, including in 2023 when it was identified as THE #4 TEACHING HOSPITAL IN THE COUNTRY. In 2021, St. Lukes was identified as one of the15 Top Health Systemsnationally. Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of theMost Wiredaward recognizing the breadth of the SLUHNs information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information. The Network is also recognized as one of the states lowest-cost providers.

Information and image provided to TVL by: Sam Kennedy

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St. Luke's EMS Physician Response Team Partners with Bethlehem Ambulance Crews - The Valley Ledger