FAQs

In San Diego County, Base Station Hospitals are designated by the County EMS Office to provide on-line medical direction to EMS professionals responding to 9-1-1 calls in the field. This medical direction, provided by the base station hospital physician through specially-trained Mobile Intensive Care Nurses (MICNs), focuses on patient treatment on the scene and assists in determining appropriate patient destinations.

The base hospital also provides EMS continuing education, quality assurance review, and monitors compliance with associated prehospital protocols and policies.

The base station hospital coordinates patient distribution in a large-scale disaster or other incidents, as described in the County of San Diego Emergency Operations Plan Annex D – Multi-Casualty Operations.

In San Diego County, there are currently seven base hospitals in the EMS system:

• Tri-City Medical Center, 
• Palomar Medical Center,
•  Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, 
• Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego,
• Sharp Memorial Hospital, 
• UCSD Medical Center Hillcrest, and 
• Sharp Grossmont Hospital. 

Additionally, in San Diego County, there are 15 hospitals with emergency departments that are not Base Station Hospitals.

With the exceptions of Sharp Grossmont and Tri-City, the designated Base Station Hospitals are also designated as Trauma Centers

Trauma catchments refer to geographic areas with defined boundaries assigned to a designated trauma center -  a trauma system designation "map." These Trauma Catchments are designated to determine where paramedics will transport a patient with significant traumatic injuries for specialized trauma care.

Factors that determine the trauma catchment area include but is not limited to the following:

• population, 
• projected population trends, 
• drive time, 
• response time, and
• other factors as defined in County EMS Policy T-705, Trauma Catchment Service Area.

Trauma Catchment Designations are an important element to high-quality, 24/7 available, trauma care. The County EMS Office, on behalf of the Board of Supervisors, designates specific hospitals with the staff and resources necessary to treat emergency medical patients identified by the Base Station Hospital as meeting San Diego County trauma patient criteria per County EMS Policy T-460, Identification of the Trauma Center Patient.

In San Diego County, there are six trauma centers in the EMS system:

• Palomar Medical Center, 
• Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla,
•  Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego,
•  Sharp Memorial Hospital, 
• UCSD Medical Center Hillcrest, and 
• Rady Children’s Hospital. 

In the organized EMS delivery system, paramedics and EMTs transport patients meeting trauma criteria to the appropriate, designated trauma center based on the Trauma Catchment Area designation.