SCOPES

SCOPES was created to develop community health and EMS workforces throughout Virginia, with an emphasis on rural EMS agencies and community health partners in Central Virginia.

Our mission is to:
• Stabilize a workforce in decline due to COVID 19
• Enhance workforce capabilities with state-of-the-art telehealth technology
• Improve the health of rural communities in Virginia

The SCOPES Program is funded by the US Healthcare Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) through a $1.5 million rural healthcare workforce development grant. The three-year funding period will ensure operation of SCOPES through August 2025. This program will provide education and training opportunities on stroke, pre-hospital emergency care, and post-hospital follow-up care for paramedics, emergency medical technicians, nursing and EMS trainees, community health workers and other rural healthcare providers. Program partners include EMS agencies and community health organizations in Buckingham, Culpeper, Greene, Louisa, Madison, Nelson and Orange counties.

A key component of SCOPES will be an expansion of iTREAT, the Department of Neurology’s mobile telestroke program. Through iTREAT, paramedics and EMTs who suspect their patients are having a stroke are connected through a secure live video link to UVA’s specially trained stroke neurologists and emergency medicine physicians. To supplement iTREAT and enhance prehospital communication, the SCOPES grant is also funding the use of the Join application, which allows EMS providers to communicate more efficiently with receiving teams at UVA.

The SCOPES team is also investing heavily in the EMS and community health resources in the Charlottesville area through education programming. This includes a continuing education series for EMS providers, an ECHO series on stroke for rural primary care providers, a specialty training program for Community Paramedics, and program development resources for area EMS agencies that are interested in exploring Community Paramedicine.

Associated providers and staff:
Sherita Chapman, MD Dept of Neurology
Bill Brady, MD Dept of Emergency Medicine
Kat Fivelstadt, MD Dept of Emergency Medicine: EMS Fellow
Ces Thohan, MD Dept of Neurology: Vascular Neurology Fellow
Olga Chertihin, Grants Administrator, Dept of Neurology
Brian Gunnell, Senior Engineer, Telehealth Operations