Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network (LVHHN), through the George E. Moerkirk Emergency Medicine Institute, trains pre-hospital providers in the community in first response treatment

LVHHN's Emergency Medicine Institute was founded in 1987 by the late Dr. George E. Moerkirk. In 1998, the institute was renamed the George E. Moerkirk Emergency Medicine Institute in honor of its founder, the father of emergency medical services in eastern Pennsylvania. Dr. Moerkirk created the area's first paramedic training program in 1975, taking volunteers with basic life support skills and turning them into certified paramedics. The institute he created and directed until his death in 1994 is still the area's primary training facility for emergency medicine.

The GEM-Emergency Medicine Institute staff at Lehigh Valley Hospital consists of three program coordinators and two administrative secretary's. Administrative oversight is provided by Christina Lewis, RN, BSN, MPH administrative director of Emergency Medicine and Pre-Hospital Services. Departmental direction is provided by the Manager, Marianne Kostenbader, RN, BSN. Clinical direction is provided by the medical director, John McCarthy, D.O., FACEP Chief of Pre-Hospital EMS.

The institute provides pre-hospital training and certification to approximately 25 paramedics and over 140 emergency medical technicians (EMT's) and first responders in the six-county region every year. It trains more than 8,000 physicians, nurses and other allied health care providers every year. The institute also offers continuing education courses at both the Cedar Crest and Muhlenberg sites for prehospital personnel. Since it's inception, the GEM-Emergency Medicine Institute has expanded its student population to include various community groups, businesses, physician's offices, schools, and health care organizations.

Advanced EMS trainees now have access to a Human Patient Simulator, a computer-driven, life-sized mannequin that helps trainees learn how to perform many life-saving procedures, such as CPR, emergency airway techniques, and Advanced Cardiac Life Support. The simulator breathes, has a heartbeat and reactive eyes, and accurately mimics many human conditions, from asthma attacks to heart attacks. It responds to intravenous medications, CPR, defibrillation, intubation, ventilation, catheterization and a vast array of other procedures.