BLM’s Operational Medical Support program collaborates with Yosemite National Park

BLM's Operational Medical Support program collaborates with Yosemite National Park

Aug 13, 2024

Wildland fire makes for an environment with many inherent risks. Considering that wildland firefighting involves aircraft, parachutes, chainsaws, hand tools, and ignition devices, a wide variety of injuries are possible. While of course the best way to treat an injury is to prevent it in the first place, it's still essential to have trained people on the ground to provide emergency care in a wildland fire environment.

To better meet this need, the BLM Fire program established the Operational Medical Support program (OMSP) in 2021. The program trains professional wildland firefighters (such as engine crews, helitack, hotshots, smokejumpers, etc.) that are emergency medical technicians or emergency medical responders on essential skills for taking care of wildland firefighters. The main focus is initial resuscitation, incident medical leadership, and patient extraction. The program has provided training to 500 individuals in the past three years.

Dr. Andrew Southard, Chief Medical Officer for BLM Fire and the Operational Medical Support program (OMSP) National Medical Director, teaches a class for the OMSP in Phoenix, Arizona.OMSP students on a field training day in Montana

A recent assignment in California's Yosemite National Park offered a unique interagency partnership opportunity for OMSP, the Public Health Service (PHS), and the National Park Service. Dr. Andrew Southard, Chief Medical Officer for BLM Fire and the OMSP National Medical Director, went on 10-day assignment as medical clinician at the Yosemite National Park medical clinic. He was accompanied by BLMer Tyler McCowan, an Emergency Medical Technician and the OMSP National Program Manager. The clinic is staffed in part by PHS, which provides medical direction to Yosemite search and rescue (SAR) and emergency medical service teams.

BLM Fire's Dr. Andrew Southard and Tyler McCowan on assignment in Yosemite National Park

During their assignment in Yosemite, Dr. Southard and McCowan worked with about 75 patients in the clinic, handling cases such as minor injuries, sprains, poison ivy, COVID, asthma, hyponatremia, acute mountain sickness, trauma, heat illness, burns, lacerations, and pediatric cases. They also worked with the SAR team and participated in patient extractions. This allowed for valuable knowledge sharing about field equipment and extraction techniques.

Dr. Andrew Southard on a search and rescue call in Yosemite National Park

When injuries occur on the fireline, just like in the wilderness of a national park, traditional emergency medical services often cannot reach the patient or are significantly delayed. People in the field must rely on each other to provide initial care until they can be extracted and delivered to the closest definitive medical services. OMSP provides training, protocols, equipment, quality assurance, and medical control to ensure that there are people on the fireline up to this serious task. The Yosemite assignment provided valuable experience of the high volume and broad spectrum of medical incidents that occur in one of the nation's most popular tourist destinations.

Dr. Andrew Southard in Yosemite Valley, California

Read more about OMSP, Dr. Southard's experiences with the program, and how to apply; or listen to his 2023 interview on the BLM Fire Wildfire Matters podcast.

Rebecca Paterson, BLM Fire Public Affairs Specialist