Regional Medical Operations Centers: A Critical Component to Improve EMS System Operations

A Regional Medical Operation Center (RMOC) is a single point of shared situational awareness and information that can implement effective command and control for the medical response to a large-scale mass casualty incident or other scenario. The region is defined based on the scale of the incident, which may involve a single county or scale up to an entire state or multi-state region. The RMOC allows coordination across all EMS agencies, hospitals, public health representatives, and emergency management leadership needed to respond. The most important piece of a RMOC is communication and coordination among and between the public health authority, acute and chronic care health systems and EMS. RMOCs also play an important role in daily EMS operations by effectively load balancing systems, decreasing wall-time of units, and arranging transfers. RMOCs are a critical component of The American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma’s National Trauma and Emergency Preparedness Plan. This session will clarify the role of RMOCs within a trauma system, elucidate the benefits of RMOCs to EMS, provide tools for setting up an RMOC in your local jurisdiction, and provide examples of currently functioning RMOCs.