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What is EMS?
EMS
is a vital public service, as important to your community as the police
or fire department. But surprisingly, few Americans understand how EMS
works or what role it plays. A public opinion survey conducted for the
American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) in 1992 found that nearly
half of adult Americans could not identify 9-1-1 as the emergency number,
or confused it with 4-1-1, the directory assistance number. Fewer still-just
one in five-had talked to their doctor about what to do in a medical emergency.
Emergency medical services is a system of care for victims of sudden and
serious illness or injury. This system depends on the availability and
coordination of many different elements, ranging from an informed public
capable of recognizing medical emergencies to a network of trauma centers
capable of providing highly specialized care to the most seriously ill
or injured. The 9-1-1 emergency number, search and rescue teams, and pre-hospital
and emergency department personnel are some of the critical elements necessary
for the EMS system to work.
Three decades of development
In
1966, a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report, Accidental Death and
Disability: Neglected Disease of Modem Society, documented widespread
deficiencies in emergency care. At the time, it was common for emergency
patients to be transported to the hospital in vehicles operated by mortuary
services and few hospitals had emergency wards staffed by doctors. The
NAS report, which revealed that the average American had a greater chance
of survival in the combat zones of Korea or Vietnam than on the nation's
highways, catalyzed public support for the creation of the EMS system
as we know it today. Also in 1966, Congress passed legislation enabling
the creation of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
setting the stage for the first federal standards in EMS. In the 30 years
since, the efforts of EMS providers at all levels have helped make our
EMS system the most advanced in the world. But despite its remarkable
progress, the EMS system still faces the challenge of declining support
for state and federal EMS programs.
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