Emergency Medical Services: Emergency Medical Services

EMS includes all of the following components:

• Agencies and organizations (both private and public)
• Communication and transportation networks
• Trauma systems, hospitals, trauma centers, and specialty care centers and rehabilitation facilities
• Highly trained professionals, including
• volunteer and career prehospital EMS personnel
• physicians, nurses, and therapists
• administrators and government officials
• An informed public that knows what to do in a medical emergency.

(EMS.gov)

Rice EMS Website

"Emergency Medical Services, more commonly known as EMS, is a system that provides emergency medical care. It is activated by a call for help, after an incident of serious illness or injury. The focus of EMS is emergency medical care of the patient(s). EMS is most easily recognized when emergency vehicles or helicopters are seen responding to emergency incidents. But EMS is much more than a ride to the hospital. It is a system of coordinated response and emergency medical care, involving multiple people and agencies. A comprehensive EMS system is ready every day for every kind of emergency." - EMS.gov

"The National EMS Scope of Practice Model defines the practice of EMS personnel. EMS personnel are unique health care professionals in that they provide medical care and transportation in an out-of-hospital setting with medical oversight. EMS personnel are not independent practitioners. While the practice is not independent, it is relatively unsupervised and often has little backup. Therefore, EMS personnel must be able to exercise considerable judgment, problem-solving, and decision-making skills. 

Most EMS personnel work in emergency medical organizations that respond to emergency calls. Emergency response is typically a local government function (or contracted by local government to a private entity). In most communities, citizens call 9-1-1 when they need emergency medical care, and the appropriate EMS resources are dispatched. EMS personnel respond and provide care to the patient in the setting in which the patient became ill or injured, including the home, field, work, industrial, and recreational settings. In the case of emergency calls, EMS personnel are unique in that they typically have a “duty to act.” 

Many EMS personnel provide medical transportation services for patients requiring medically supervised transportation, either exclusively or in addition to emergency response. These “medical transports” generally do not fall under the “duty to act” responsibility of emergency response. Some EMS personnel provide inter-facility transfers of very high acuity patients. 

In some cases, EMS personnel “stand by” at mass gatherings (for example, concerts, sporting events, etc.) and high-risk activities (for example, fireground operations, etc.). EMS personnel occasionally serve a combined emergency response and occupational/primary care role in remote areas (for example, off-shore oil rigs, wildland fires, etc.) Increasing numbers of EMS personnel are working in more traditional health care settings in the hospital (especially emergency departments), urgent care centers, doctor’s offices and long-term care facilities. Finally, EMS personnel are becoming involved in numerous public health initiatives (immunizations, illness and injury prevention programs, etc.). 

Emergency Medical Services are a local function and organized in a variety of ways. Common models are municipal government (fire-based or third-service) or a contracted service with a private (profit or nonprofit) entity. EMS personnel also can be categorized in a variety of ways. Those trained to higher levels tend to be paid (either full or part time) while those trained to lower levels tend to be volunteers or partially paid. 

EMS provides out-of-hospital medical care to those with perceived urgent needs. It is a component of the overall health care system. EMS delivers care as part of a system intended to attenuate the morbidity and mortality associated with sudden illnesses and injury. The positive effects of EMS care are enhanced by linkages with other community health resources and integration within the health care system." - National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT)