The call comes in, with very few details: the patient’s weight, their current location, and the condition in which they were found. The crew grabs their gear, and heads to the parking lot and the ambulance. Then, it’s off to the Temple University Hospital-Episcopal Campus Emergency Department, where—without pausing for a second—they transfer the patient to the stretcher and drive them to Main Campus.
All of this takes little more than 30 minutes—and that’s no surprise, given that speed and efficiency are what makes the Temple Transport Team, or T3, stand out. Founded in 2002, T3 transports patients between Temple Health hospitals, as well as from community hospitals to our facilities. In short, it ensures patients get the high-acuity treatment they need, as quickly as possible.
The T3 employees who care for patients during their rides are highly-skilled professionals and include EMTs, nurses, and paramedics. T3 has nearly 50 staff members, and three teams: Ground, the ambulance program, based out of Episcopal Campus; Air, the helicopter program, run from Doylestown Hospital; and the Transfer Center, which handles dispatch for calls.
The Ground Team is an especially close-knit group, with many of its members having worked together for over a decade. These bonds are particularly important, because the job is demanding—and there’s often no way of knowing what will happen next.
“There’s really no typical day,” explains Brian Helder, T3’s Senior Operations Manager. “Every situation’s a little bit different, and it’s just a matter of trying to adapt. You could do a couple of emergencies in the ED, then pick up a senior citizen who fell and hit their head, and then the next moment, you’re driving to another hospital for someone who’s been intubated and who has balloon pumps or is on ECMO.”
“You always have to have your game face on,” agrees Charles “Chuck” Herbert, T3’s Operations Manager. “And that’s exactly what the Ground Team does.” Read on for interviews with several of the Ground Team members, and find out what makes their jobs so worthwhile—from conversations in the back of the ambulance to the unforgettable patient stories.
Chris Guinter, Critical Care Transport Nurse
“A lot of times, we hear people say, ‘Oh, this patient is too sick to move.’ But that’s the part of the job I find most rewarding: that we have the skills to successfully transport patients in really critical condition to Temple. Getting them here can change the direction of their care—and we’re the ones who make that happen.
There was one really memorable case that I worked with Alicia [Perkowski, Critical Care Paramedic]. A young man was stabbed over 30 times and taken to a non-trauma facility, where he was cared for by a general surgeon. The surgeon actually did a great job, but it was clear that the patient needed much more intensive care, and the call came to transfer him to Main Campus.
By the time we got to the bedside, the patient was very sick, and it was an open question as to whether he would make it. He was still bleeding profusely from the lacerations in his lungs and his heart. I think he needed six units of blood for the 17 minute drive to Temple. When we got to our ED, they resuscitated him, gave him more blood, and took him to the OR. The next day, we went to see him, and he was awake and gave us a thumbs-up. He got discharged from the hospital seven days later with no deficits. Those are the kinds of cases that stick with you—and that’s why we stay here.”
John Munson, Critical Care EMT
“I came to Temple with about 26 years of EMS experience. Before that, I had been with the Hazmat Unit of the Philadelphia Fire Department. I’m not going to retire any time soon, either—this job keeps me moving, which keeps me young.
We have 10 minutes from the time a call comes in to get to our truck, and if it’s for something like a gunshot wound, we have to go as fast as we can. There are some shifts when we just don’t stop: once, we were out on calls from 6:20 pm until 5:45 in the morning.
That’s a lot to handle, but it’s the people I work with that make it possible. We have so many great nurses and medics, and we’re all willing to teach and learn from each other. If one person isn’t comfortable with something, then we don’t do it—that’s how much of a team this is.”
Alicia Perkowski, Critical Care Paramedic
“Being in the back of an ambulance with a patient puts you in a unique position, and that’s one of the most rewarding parts of our job. You’re doing more than what people think of as providing medical care—in many cases, you’re actually talking to the patients.
A lot of the people we work with are struggling with Substance Use Disorder, and if they’re open to it, you can ask them if they’re looking to get help. You can educate them about what kinds of resources are available at Temple, and how they can advocate for themselves. Then when you make the handoff at the ED, you can mention to the nurses that the patient might be looking for a social work evaluation. It’s a chance to make a difference at a critical moment in a patient’s life.
When we aren’t on call, we’re always thinking about how we can be better prepared the next time that phone rings. That’s why we do a lot of training and clinical discussion during downtime. Everybody here is an active self-learner: we read a lot of journal articles, and we have a training room where people come in and practice intubation. We also have a very robust structured training program with quarterly education and simulation (SIM) lab. This is such a fast-paced job, so you always have to stay on top of your game.”
Dakota Glass, Critical Care Paramedic
“I came to Temple because I’ve always been looking to get into Critical Care, but I didn’t want to come to just any program. I wanted to go to the best one, and the one that would teach me the most—and where I’d actually be able to apply that knowledge on the job.
We have to do four weeks at our academy and then field training before we’re an actual member of the team on the truck. They want to make sure you’re as prepared as possible, so you’ll be ready for those calls when you say, ‘Oh yeah, this is why we need to bring the whole Critical Care team.’”