Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to definitive care. They may also be known as a first aid squad, FAST squad, emergency squad, ambulance squad, ambulance corps, life squad or by other initialisms such as EMAS or EMARS.
Emergency medical technician (EMT) and ambulance technician are terms used in some countries to denote a health care provider of emergency medical services. EMTs are clinicians, trained to respond quickly to emergency situations regarding medical issues, traumatic injuries and accident scenes.
A paramedic is a healthcare professional who responds to emergency calls for medical help outside of a hospital. Paramedics mainly work as part of the emergency medical services (EMS), most often in ambulances. The scope of practice of a paramedic varies among countries, but generally includes autonomous decision making around the emergency care of patients.
An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient.
The British Columbia Ambulance Service (BCAS) is the sole ambulance service and provider of pre-hospital emergency care in the province of British Columbia. BCAS is managed by British Columbia Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) and falls under the jurisdiction of the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA). The service is tasked with the provision of emergency medical response province-wide. Today, BC Ambulance is among the largest Emergency Medical Services (EMS) provider in Canada and North America. The fleet consists of more than 500 ground ambulances operating from 183 stations across the province along with 80 support vehicles. BCAS provides inter-facility patient transfer services in circumstances where a patient needs to be moved between health care facilities for treatment. BCAS also operates an airevac program that utilizes both fixed-wing and rotary aircraft.
New South Wales Ambulance, is an agency of NSW Health and the statutory provider of pre-hospital emergency care and ambulance services in the state of New South Wales, Australia.
The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust is the national ambulance service for Wales and one of the three NHS trusts in the country. It was established on 1 April 1998 and has 2,576 staff providing ambulance and related services to the 3.1 million residents of Wales.
Doctor Gareth Davies is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Pre-hospital Emergency Medicine, working for the NHS at the Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel. He is best known for his role as lead doctor of the flight crew for the London Air Ambulance (HEMS) and has been seen many times on the BBC documentary television series Trauma, Trauma Uncut and An Hour to Save Your Life He has also made an appearance as a mentor in an episode of the CBBC series Hero Squad, and on Channel 5's Trauma Doctors.
Ottawa Paramedic Service is a uniformed municipal public safety agency providing emergency and non-emergency paramedic care to residents and visitors of city of Ottawa, Ontario. It is the sole, licensed, statutory provider and is operated directly by the city. The Service is an independent third service provider. This means that it is part of the Emergency and Protective Services department of the city but functions as an independent and separate agency from other services. The Ottawa Paramedic Service operates in compliance with legislation and licensing standards overseen by the government of Ontario. It also provides routine, non-emergency transports and emergency paramedic coverage for special events. It is the only service provider permitted to service medical emergency calls in the City of Ottawa.
North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (NEAS) is the authority responsible for providing NHS ambulance services in North East England, covering the counties of County Durham, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear and the area of the former county of Cleveland in North Yorkshire. The trust was formed on 1 July 2006, following the merger of the existing North East Ambulance Service and the Tees division of the Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service (TENYAS). Northumbria Ambulance Service and County Durham Ambulance Service had previously merged on 1 April 1999.
The Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust is a charity that provides a dedicated helicopter emergency service for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The helicopter flies about 1,100 missions per year and, as of December 2018, had flown over 28,000 missions.
Louisville Metro Emergency Medical Services is the primary provider of pre-hospital life support and emergency care within Louisville-Jefferson County, Kentucky. LMEMS is a governmental department that averages 125,000 calls for service, both emergency and non-emergency, each year.
Emergency medical services in Canada are the responsibility of each Canadian province or territory. The services, including both ambulance and paramedic services, may be provided directly by the province, contracted to a private provider, or delegated to local governments, which may in turn create service delivery arrangements with municipal departments, hospitals or private providers. The approach, and the standards, vary considerably between provinces and territories.
Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom provide emergency care to people with acute illness or injury and are predominantly provided free at the point of use by the four National Health Services of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Emergency care including ambulance and emergency department treatment is only free to UK Nationals and a charge may be made to those not entitled to free NHS Care.
Boston Emergency Medical Services provides basic life support (BLS) and advanced life support (ALS) ambulance units throughout the neighborhoods in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Boston EMS is a public safety agency responding to 911 calls alone or with the Boston Police and/or Boston Fire Departments dependent upon the nature of an incident. The agency employs over 400 emergency medical technicians (EMT) and paramedics.
Emergency medical services in New Zealand are provided by the Order of St John, except in the Greater Wellington region where Wellington Free Ambulance provides these services. Both have a history of long service to their communities, St John since 1885 and Free beginning in 1927, traditionally having a volunteer base which s day however the vast majority of response work is undertaken by paid career Paramedics. Strategic leadership of the sector is provided by NASO which is a unit within the Ministry of Health responsible for coordinating the purchasing and funding of services on behalf of the Ministry and the Accident Compensation Corporation.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance is an air ambulance service serving the counties of Hampshire and Isle of Wight in Southern England. It is one of a number of air ambulance services in the United Kingdom.
Ukiah Ambulance is now Medstar Ambulance of Mendocino County Inc., a private non-profit ground transport ambulance provider serving central and southern Mendocino County. It is the longest continuously running ambulance service in Mendocino County history. Ukiah Ambulance also developed the first air rescue service in Mendocino County, called FlightCare, which operated for ten years out of the Ukiah Municipal Airport.
The Ambulance Service Long Service and Good Conduct Medal is a long service medal of the United Kingdom established in 1996. The medal is awarded to recognise long service by members of the ambulance services who serve on emergency duty.
Health and social care on the Isle of Man is the responsibility of the Department of Health and Social Care. Healthcare is free for residents and visitors from the UK and there is a reciprocal health agreement with the UK. For several years it has required a supplementary vote to balance its budget at the end of each year.
