WV Medical Coordination Center, WESTCOM

The Medical Command System

The Medical Command System is comprised of five regional Medical Command Centers. Four of the five centers are operated in conjunction with a regional trauma hospital. The fifth is operated by the Office of Emergency Medical Services in its Flatwoods WV facility, and is known as the Medical Coordination Center.

The five centers are as follows:
Beckley Regional Command, operating out of Raleigh General Hospital
WVU Medical Command, operating out of West Virginia University Hospital
Charleston Med-Base, operating out of CAMC General Division
Huntington Medical Command, operating out of Cabell Huntington Hospital
Medical Coordination Center, operating out of the Flatwoods facility in Sutton.

Each center is staffed 24/7 by paramedics with years of clinical experience, and provides Medical Direction to field providers.

All EMS units transporting patients to an emergency department contacts its respective Medical Command Center and provides a patient report. This report is relayed to the receiving facility's Emergency Department.

The medical direction can take many forms. Some of them are as follows:

Answering simple questions from field providers
Ordering medications or procedures for patients
Coordinating Aero Medical Evacuation
Routing STEMI, CVA and Trauma patients to the appropriate facilities
Collecting Data
Insuring adherence to WVOEMS protocols
Completing documentation regarding patient care for quality improvement processes.

The Medical Coordination Center also maintains the "One-call lines" for the perinatal partnership arranging transfers of neonates and or mothers in need of a tertiary care center.

Additionally, the Medical Coordination Center provides continuous monitoring of the state's radio system. In the event a problem occurs within the system, a radio technician responsible for the particular area is dispatched.

The regional Medical Commands are a great asset to the EMS system in West Virginia.