Press Release
UPMC Health System Emergency Medicine Physicians and StarMD Announce New Safety-At-Sea Program For Recreational Boaters
PR Newswire for Journalists, push [email protected]
PITTSBURGH, April 8 /PRNewswire/ -- UPMC Health System is pleased to announce a joint venture with StarMD, LLC that enables emergency medicine physicians to provide direct assistance to recreational boaters of Trade Wind Yachts, who may experience a medical emergency while out at sea.
Also known as the Maritime Emergency Response Program, this unique service offers recreational boaters first-aid equipment and puts them in immediate contact with an appropriately trained emergency medicine physician at UPMC Health System in the event of an emergency. Once contacted, the physician.uses information provided by StarMD to track the patient out at sea and decides if immediate medical attention is needed and how to direct the patient to the nearest hospital. Ted Delbridge, M.D., assistant professor of emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and medical director of UPMC Presbyterian's emergency department will serve as medical director of the program.
"We are very eager to have the expertise of well-trained, dedicated
emergency medicine physicians able to provide a level of medical care not previously available to the recreational boating industry," says Paul Paris, M.D., professor and chairman of the department of emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
This is not the first time UPMC emergency medicine physicians have provided an enhanced level of care to patients in remote places. Since 1984, UPMC emergency medicine physicians have provided medical support to STAT MedEvac, a leading air medical transportation service for critically ill and injured patients, with more than 5,500 flight operations each year.
Currently, UPMC emergency medicine physicians also provide medical
assistance to passengers with Delta and United Airlines who become ill
during a flight.
Trade Wind Yachts is a specialized tour company that provides sailing
vacations, sailing courses and a variety of yacht management services. Trade Wind Yachts offers sailing vacations in the United States and Caribbean, including the British Virgin Islands, St. Martin, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
StarMD is a private company, located in Middleburg, Va., offering consumer access to physicians through a variety of different programs. StarMD offers these services through partnerships with medical schools and hospitals, guaranteeing immediate response and information from highly trained and licensed physicians.
"I have always been concerned when sailing too far off the coast or in
foreign waters where reasonably fast access to medical help may not be
guaranteed," says George Harris, executive vice president of StarMD. "Our
partnership with UPMC Health System will enable us to help our clients by
minimizing such worries."
The department of emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the UPMC Health System is nationally and internationally recognized in the areas of clinical care, education and research. Department faculty are recognized authorities in many specialty areas of emergency medicine, including pre-hospital care, pain management, decision guidelines, toxicology, resuscitation medicine, disaster planning and injury prevention.
More information on the department of emergency medicine is available at http://www.upmc.edu/.
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