The EMS mission is simple…. to save the lives of people
in emergency situations.
Born 40 years ago in the United States of numerous and interesting
parents - trauma care, traffic safety, cardiology, resuscitation
science and military medicine, EMS has a unique history in both
healthcare and public safety. It continues to cross the boundaries
of numerous disciplines, including healthcare, medical transportation,
public health and homeland security.
Although accidental injuries were the impetus for federal support
of EMS and trauma systems, modern EMS also developed out of simultaneous
advances in cardiology and resuscitation science, including mouth-to-mouth
breathing, chest compressions and defibrillation. Emergency physicians,
then practicing a new medical specialty, recognized that these
cardiac interventions could save more lives if they were brought
out of the hospital into the ambulance. At the same time, medics
returning from Vietnam found that lives could be saved by using
trauma treatments once reserved for the hospital on patients in
the field, thus reinforcing the notion that EMS is, in essence,
an extension of in-hospital emergency medical care.
While EMS originally was conceived to respond to accidental death
and injury and cardiac conditions outside the hospital, its role
has expanded to become the primary safety net for Americans, especially
those who are un- or under-insured. Public health authorities
also are turning to EMS to assist in prevention activities and
the promotion and implementation of community-based health and
wellness programs.
Man-made and natural disasters in recent years also have changed
the role of EMS, which today is expected to provide immediate
emergency medical response and patient transport to large numbers
of affected patients following a disaster. In fact, the role of
EMS on the nation's public safety front line has led to spirited
debate about the appropriate role of EMS in the new federal Department
of Homeland Security.
In the end, EMS defies simple explanation, both historically
and today. EMS is out-of-hospital patient care. EMS is ambulance
transport. EMS is an extension of emergency medicine and an arm
of public health. EMS is a safety net. EMS is prevention. EMS
is first response and public safety. In fact, EMS plays all of
these roles, making it truly worthy of the moniker: America's
front line of health care.
Source: American College of Emergency Physicians, EMS: Where
We've Been and Where We're Going...2006
