January 18, 2010 
One of the Fletcher Allen Critical Transport (FACT) trucks is stationed at Central Vermont Medical Center daily from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. to provide rapid access to tertiary care for patients in central Vermont.
Exceptionally well-qualified crews include a critical care transport nurse and paramedic, and a driver who is usually a paramedic or an EMT Intermediate. The crew maintains competencies in emergency medicine, intensive care, surgical intensive care and pediatric intensive care. Trucks are set up with IV pumps, syringe pumps and other specialized equipment.
“Having the FACT truck here is a significant addition to the services offered at CVMC,” stated Mark Depman, M.D., Medical Director of the CVMC Emergency Department. “Having the crew on standby enables us to make timely transfers to tertiary hospitals, where patients with severe injuries and medical conditions beyond the scope of our hospital services, can receive immediate treatment.”
Fletcher Allen Health Care positions its critical transport equipment to provide optimal geographic coverage for rapid access to tertiary care. This usually means a trip to Fletcher Allen, but it can also be a trip to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center or to Boston depending on the situation. FACT is generally used for inter-facility transport and the FACT ambulance at CVMC also provides quicker response to Gifford Hospital, Copley Hospital and Northeast Regional Hospital in St. Johnsbury.
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