PAVES | Emory School of Medicine

What is the Prehospital and Ambulatory Virtual Emergency Services (PAVES)?

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) awarded the Emory Rural Tele-EMS Network (ER-TEMS) a $1.2 million grant over four years. The program is now called PAVES: Prehospital and Ambulatory Virtual Emergency Services. With this grant, Georgians in rural counties who need emergency medical care have access to Emory Emergency Medicine doctors and specialists even before they reach a local hospital. The program kicked-off in Randolph County in April 2021.

Early comprehensive telemedicine assessments using video technology and high-speed internet reduce unnecessary transports and optimize the utilization of hospital resources to deliver the right care at the right time and the right place.

The patients are safely transported to local facilities for definitive care after initial stabilization and treatment, in collaboration with guidance from Emory's on-call emergency provider.

A call from the ambulance crew in rural Georgia initiates the telemedicine encounter with an Emory Emergency Medicine physician. The Emory EM physician uses a video internet hook-up to consult with the ambulance crew helping evaluate and mange the initial patient care. If needed, the EM physician in Atlanta can access the vast network of specialty health services at Emory.

EMS personnel can focus their attention on patient care while the Emory EM provider coordinates with the receiving hospital about the incoming patient's arrival and any treatment plans that have been initiated.

For more information about the PAVES, link to a video here, pdf flyer here, and refer to the concept design here.

PAVES Video

Network Leadership

Michael Carr, MD Project Director/Principle Investigator

Ingrid Bloom, MD Co-Investigator

Lekshmi Kumar, MD Co-Investigator

Timothy Moran, Ph.D Co-Investigator

Michael Ross, MD Co-Investigator

Nathan Stanaway Special Assistant/Project Manager

Randy Lu Student Researcher

The Prehospital and Ambulatory Virtual Emergency Services (PAVES) was previously known as the Emory Rural Tele-EMS Network and is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It is part of a financial assistance award totaling $1.2 million with 100 percentage funded by HRSA/HHS and zero percentage funded by non government source(s). The contents are those of Emory University and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA/HHS, or the U.S. Government.