Prehospital Care Services at Allegheny Health Network Announces Plans for a ‘Paramedic Response Unit’ in Pittsburgh’s Northern Suburbs

The community-based Paramedic Response Unit (PRU) will work collaboratively with local emergency medical personnel to provide the region’s residents with enhanced emergency medical care 

PITTSBURGH – Allegheny Health Network (AHN) announced today that it will introduce a new Paramedic Response Unit (PRU) in support of independent EMS agencies north of Pittsburgh and providing enhanced emergency medical care to the region’s residents. Led by AHN Prehospital Care Services, the paramedic unit will be the first of its kind offered in communities north of Pittsburgh.

The AHN PRU will be staffed by a Pennsylvania Department of Health-certified paramedic capable of providing Advanced Life Support (ALS) and will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Working in collaboration with the region’s community-based EMS agencies in Allegheny, Beaver and Butler counties, the PRU staff will provide general assistance to the agencies, particularly when patients require additional supportive care and in instances of mass casualties.

“The intent of our prehospital care team is always to provide the highest level of care to patients and to help start them on a care path that will ultimately lead them to the best possible outcome. It is our pleasure to support both patients and our fellow EMS colleagues in this way, and we look forward to getting started in the coming months,” said Bob Twaddle, vice president, AHN Prehospital Care Services.

Having planned this PRU in the northern suburbs for more than a year, the launch of services is anticipated in early fall, alongside the opening of AHN Wexford Hospital. The unit will mark the network’s 6^th PRU, with the first mobilized in 1988 in the Allegheny Valley region. Since then, AHN has launched another response unit in Allegheny Valley, followed by others in Belle Vernon (Fayette County) and in North Huntingdon (Westmoreland County). AHN also supplies response units in Pittsburgh’s eastern suburbs near Forbes Hospital.

Wexford Hospital will serve a wide geographic footprint with a combined population of more than 215,000 people living in Pine, McCandless, Cranberry, Mars, Gibsonia, Allison Park, Zelienople, West View, Ross Township and several more surrounding communities. Currently, a significant majority of those residents leave their communities to access the services the new hospital will provide.

“The concept of the paramedic response unit is deeply aligned with the mission of Allegheny Health Network and specifically Wexford Hospital, which is to bring high-quality, community-based care to the residents of Pittsburgh’s North Hills communities. Supporting the outstanding care provided by the local EMS agencies is an important component to achieving that goal for patients and their families,” said Allan Klapper, MD, president, AHN Wexford Hospital.

Prehospital Care Services at AHN is comprised of physician-led EMS medical direction, education, quality assurance, business development, mobile integrated health, medical special operations, emergency medical services, critical care air and ground transport via LifeFlight and EMS communications centers. To learn more, visit www.ahn.org/services/prehospital.

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