Collaboration by emergency medicine pharmacists and prehospital services providers

Interprofessional collaboration is essential to pharmacy practice. One unique aspect of emergency medicine (EM) pharmacy practice is the opportunity to interact with prehospital providers at the bedside and to collaborate on medication-related aspects of prehospital care. This article aims to provide pharmacists an understanding of the complex prehospital care system and our experience collaborating with emergency medical services (EMS) in our respective states and local communities. When the 911 system is called, the call is routed to an emergency dispatcher who gathers basic information, determines the level of acuity, and mobilizes appropriate and available prehospital resources. There are several types of EMS system configurations, with systems composed of combinations of fire-based, private, and “third-service” agencies. Depending on the organization of the tiered system, prehospital providers are dispatched to respond to the call; the team may include EMS providers, firefighters, and police officers.1 There are many types of EMS providers with different specialized training in the prehospital setting, including emergency medical technicians (EMTs) trained in basic life support (BLS); advanced EMTs and paramedics with advanced life support (ALS) training; and other personnel such as specialty care and critical care transport providers, individuals credentialed to perform rapid sequence intubation, flight (helicopter and fixed-wing airplane) paramedics and nurses, and EMS physicians (physicians with an interest in EMS or with EMS fellowship training).2