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Mayo Emergency Communications Center
For medical emergencies, always call 911 or the emergency telephone number in your community.
The Mayo Emergency Communications Center primarily works with medical professionals, emergency first responders, fire departments, law enforcement and others who arrange patient transports.
The Emergency Communications Center (ECC) provides 24-hour dispatching for Basic Life Support, Advanced Life Support and Critical Care transportation. The Communications Technicians handle approximately 200 calls for service per day.
The communications technicians facilitate transports by air or ground ambulance. In many communities served, the ECC deploys the medical response for 911 calls and provide instructions to the caller on what to do until the ambulance arrives.
When you call the communications center, the trained Communications Technicians will work with the caller to determine the best medical transportation option for the patient based on medical protocols.
| Level of Care |
Patient Condition |
Staffing |
| Advanced Life Support (ALS) |
The patient is stable, and critical care is not anticipated. The following advanced care may be required:
- Cardiac monitoring
- Monitoring up to two medication drips or medications routinely carried
- Common IV infusions (lidocaine, heparin or nitroglycerin) at stable rates
- Administering Advanced Cardiac Life Support drugs
- Intubation or other advanced airway management
- Administering and monitoring medications
Blood may be hanging but the patient should not require additional blood products en route.
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Gold Cross: team of two that includes either two paramedics or a paramedic with a transport nurse or EMT.
Mayo MedAir: staff of two that includes a transport nurse plus a paramedic, EMT, respiratory therapist or another nurse, depending on the patient's needs. |
| Basic Life Support (BLS) |
The patient is stable and may require basic medical treatment en route. BLS service also is indicated if the patient is unable to sit at 90 degrees due to severe contractures, poor balance, severe pain, the need for special positioning or is in a comatose or semicomatose state. Care provided en route can include:
- IV fluid infusions at TKO rates, without added medications or blood products
- Basic respiratory management (oxygen or suctioning)
No medications or blood products are given. Cardiac monitoring is not done.
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Gold Cross: Two paramedics or an EMT/Paramedic team.
Mayo MedAir: transport nurse with either a paramedic or EMT. |
| Critical Care |
The patient is seriously ill or injured and may require any of the treatments outlined under ALS care plus:
- Invasive monitoring (central lines), for example Swan Ganz, CVP's arterial lines, ICPs or insertion of arterial lines
- Initiation and titration of vasoactive medications
- Thrombolytic infusion, for example, Streptokinase or TPA
- Critical monitoring of medications such as mannitol
- Managing internal and external pacemakers
- Needle aspiration or chest tube insertion
- Advanced airway management, such as intubation with paralytics or the use of cricothyrothomy skills
- Initiating blood infusions
- Managing ventilators with complex settings for patients with severe lung disease
Intra-aortic balloon pump management.
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Gold Cross Plus, Mayo One or Mayo MedAir: Team of at least two that includes a transport nurse, a paramedic, respiratory therapist, physician or a second transport nurse. In some cases, members of the team may have special expertise in pediatric or neonatal care. |
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Level of care
Communication Specialists at Mayo Emergency Communications Center are trained to assist in identifying the most appropriate level of care and mode of transportation for patients. This chart outlines the basic differences between Basic Life Support, Advanced Life Support and Critical Care. See chart.
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