YORK COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) -- Emergency physicians usually spend their time in the emergency room, but some aspiring doctors in York got a taste of the other side, finding out what EMS crews tackle in the field. It is part of WellSpan York Hospital's annual EMS Skills Day, and medical residents spent Wednesday morning getting hands-on training.
WellSpan doctors say knowing what happens before a patient gets to the hospital helps emergency physicians do their jobs better and can improve communication between everyone in charge of keeping people alive.
From treating patients in the back of an ambulance to getting someone on a stretcher, medical residents at WellSpan York Hospital got an inside look at how EMS crews do their job.
"So they get to learn and experience what happens to a patient and what the folks out in the field are doing," emergency physician Dr. Thomas Yeich said.
These doctors-to-be usually see patients at the hospital, but Yeich said what happens on the way to the ER is just as important.
"What happens in the field can definitely affect what we do once the patient arrives at the hospital," he said.
For first-year resident Levi Folkert, the ER was a natural fit.
"Medicine for me started with my mother who was an emergency room nurse for 27 years," he said. "That hands-on, blue-collar type stuff is what I'm really interested in."
He and his peers certainly got plenty of hands-on experience Wednesday.
"Did CPR inside the back of the ambulance, got really sweaty," Folkert said.
It was a learning experience: that what EMS crews do, like getting an IV started -- or a breathing tube -- in a moving ambulance, can be a challenge.
"How difficult and hard work it is just to get the patient from a traumatic scene like a car accident into the hospital," Folkert said.
Yeich said that is the point of EMS Skills Day. Seeing this side of emergency medicine gives future doctors perspective.
"They have a little bit more understanding and more empathy for what is and is not performed prior to arrival," he said.
It also can help them do their job better.
"Something I've seen just in the emergency department is all those conversations with the EMS guys are probably the most helpful part of a lot of patient histories," Folkert said.
While these residents are training to be doctors, that does not rule out a career in EMS.
Dr. Yeich said there are one-year and two-year EMS fellowships, an option for residents who want to spend more time in the field.
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