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Doctors join EMS response in rural Illinois

The MD-1 Physician Response program aims to cut time for critical patients to receive doctor’s care

By Jeff Kolkey
Rockford Register Star

ROCKFORD, Ill. — MercyRockford Health System launched an expansion today into northern Illinois of its MD-1 Physician Response program, which can put an ER doctor in the field to assist first responders in medical emergencies.

Doctors take an MD-1 response vehicle to emergency scenes such as shootings, multiple-victim car crashes and natural disasters with advanced equipment not typically aboard an ambulance.

They can’t replace emergency responders. But MD-1 is billed as a way to help paramedics save lives by cutting the time it takes for a severely injured or ill patient from a rural area to reach a doctor’s care.

Read full story: MercyRockford’s mobile emergency docs to roam northern Illinois