Center for Rural and Tribal EMS

The UNM Center for Rural and Tribal EMS was founded in 2015, with a mission to support and advance the field of Out-of-Hospital Medicine in rural, frontier, and tribal settings, through education, innovation, research, and medical direction.  The Center consists of two core UNM EMS Physicians, one EMS fellow, one EMS Nurse Practitioner, and a paramedic; several other UNM EMS Physicians participate as well.  We provide medical direction for multiple rural, tribal, and National Park EMS agencies in New Mexico and Arizona.  We work closely with the UNM EMS Academy to bolster rural and distance education offering to EMS students in those areas.  We also work closely with State Offices of Rural Health in both New Mexico and Arizona to help influence health policy to improve EMS and health care delivery in the areas we serve.  While much of our work focuses on “lights and sirens” EMS, we are heavily involved in other creative approaches to health care, such as Community EMS/Mobile Integrated Health, and work closely with communities to best address their health care needs.  Our faculty present locally, nationally, and internationally on rural and tribal EMS topics on a regular basis.  Please contact one of the core faculty members for collaboration or if you would like additional information.