Occasionally, patients in emergency departments or intensive care units [ICU] within our service area deteriorate or present with new complications that transcend the capabilities of the community-based hospitals in St. Charles County. In the past, ICU nurses, or even physicians, accompanied these complex patients during their transfer to a higher-acuity setting (most often in St. Louis County or City).
Today, SCCAD operates a Critical Care Ground Transport program, staffed with clinicians who have earned the Critical Care Paramedic or Flight Paramedic credential. These highly skilled individuals are equipped to oversee care for invasive arterial line monitoring, infusion pump management, invasive airway therapy, chest tube management, and high risk cardiac/neurology patients requiring specialty equipment such as intra-aortic balloon pump and ventricular assist devices, among others.
St. Charles County Ambulance District is one of a handful of EMS organizations in the nation to be recognized by the International Board of Specialty Certification for 100% certification compliance. In addition, the District’s Training Center is certified by IBSC to provide Fundamentals of Critical Care, a rigorous education program that prepares clinicians to sit for the Critical Care Paramedic or Flight Paramedic certification exam.