Medical Escorts means physicians (including residents and fellows), nurses and respiratory therapists of the sending health care facility that accompany and provide medical care to patients during transport by air/land to a receiving health care facility.
Ornge collaborates with Sending Facilities to ensure decisions on patient transport meet the needs of the Sending Facilities’ patients. The Sending Facility when making a request to Ornge for transport must advise Ornge of the patient care needs required during the transport. Upon receiving a request, Ornge determines the appropriate aircraft/land vehicle and the appropriate level of care required to transport the patient and dispatches the aircraft/land vehicle and medical staff accordingly. There will, however, be circumstances in which Ornge does not have the appropriate medical staff immediately available to satisfy a request (i.e., critical care and advanced care paramedics). In such circumstances, the Sending Facility may: (i) advise Ornge that it wishes to utilize a primary care paramedic and will provide a Medical Escort to provide the appropriate care to the patient during transport; or (ii) advise Ornge that it will wait until critical care or advanced care paramedics are available to complete the transport.
Based on the level of care requested by the Sending Facility, Ornge will ensure that the aircraft/land vehicle is supplied with appropriate equipment and medications to provide the level of care required during transport and that physician orders are obtained that may be necessary during transport. In the event the Sending Facility chooses to utilize a primary care paramedic (“PCP”) and provide a Medical Escort during transport, the Sending Facility must ensure that the Medical Escort brings appropriate medical supplies, equipment and medication necessary to maintain continuity of patient care during the transport from the Sending Facility to the Receiving Facility.