The Spirit Medical Transportation Services' mission is to provide comprehensive, regionally integrated ground and air transportation for adult, pediatric, neonatal, and high-risk obstetrical critical care patients from referral institutions and scenes of injury.
The Spirit Medical Transportation Services is based out of Saint Joseph's Hospital, central and northern Wisconsin's only verified Level II Trauma Center.
The Spirit Medical Transportation Services is not a "911" service, but is designed to support, supplement, and assist local and regional ambulances and other emergency services, which play the initial key role in any emergency medical transport.
Providing interfacility transportation for patients requiring advanced life support (ALS) or critical care management to or from tertiary hospitals is of particular importance, and is one of the primary reasons for using Spirit services.
Communication Center
The Spirit Medical Transportation Services can be accessed by the appropriate medical professionals 24 hours a day through the Saint Joseph's Hospital Communication Center. Staffed by communications specialists trained as emergency medical technicians, the staff receives request information and rapidly dispatches the appropriate mode of transportation. During this time, key patient information is collected and relayed to the transport crew. Dispatching a mode of transportation occurs simultaneously to collecting patient and transport information.
Effective communication is vital for timely and successful dispatch of either the helicopter or ground ambulance. The communication center remains in constant contact with the Spirit transport teams to monitor their location and keep referral hospitals or emergency scene crews informed of their progress.
MinistryConnect
Our communication specialists also staff the MinistryConnect Center. MinistryConnect is a toll-free, single point of contact to transfer a patient to Saint Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield or Saint Clare’s Hospital in Weston. By calling this number, referring providers or their staff will speak with a clinically trained representative who will assist them in transferring their patient in a consistent and comprehensive manner.
Medical Control
Dr. Steven Mickel |
The Spirit Medical Transportation Services transportation crew works under the medical direction and standing protocols of Dr. Steven Mickel. Emergency medicine physicians from Marshfield Clinic staff the emergency department at Saint Joseph's Hospital and provide on-line medical support for all Spirit transports. Consultation also is available from other Clinic staff including cardiologists, neurosurgeons, trauma surgeons, neonatologists, obstetricians, and pediatric intensivists.
Neonatal Transports
High-risk neonatal (newborn) patients that need specialized care and treatment are often transferred to Saint Joseph's Hospital Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. For these transports, the Spirit of Marshfield crew is joined by a neonatal transport nurse and respiratory therapist. This team has advanced training for stabilizing and caring for the critically ill patient during transport.
Transport Team
A nurse and paramedic staff the helicopter and each of the two ground ambulances. Transport nurses average more than 14 years of critical care and emergency department experience. Our paramedics are well trained in critical care and advanced skills and have an average of more than 10 years in emergency medical services. Both nurses and paramedics assist in the care of critically ill patients at Saint Joseph's Hospital when not on transports, and participate in ongoing training and skill competency checks. Besides having years of clinical and field experiences, both nurses and paramedics receive more than 200 hours of critical care/emergency transport orientation and must be properly certified.