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.
An emergency medical technician is a medical professional that provides emergency medical services. EMTs are most commonly found serving on ambulances and in fire departments in the US and Canada, as full-time and some part-time departments require their firefighters to be EMT certified.
The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) is the full-service fire department of New York City, serving all five boroughs. The FDNY is responsible for fire suppression and fire prevention, and is a major provider of EMS services in New York City. Beyond fire suppression and EMS, the FDNY is responsible for a broad range of services, including technical rescue, CBRN defense, and structural collapse response and analysis. The FDNY is equipped with a wide variety of general-purpose and specialized Vehicles,Tools and Equipment to serve its varied missions.
The Chicago Fire Department (CFD) provides Firefighting Services along with Emergency Medical Response Services,Hazardous Materials Mitigation Services and Technical Rescue Response Services in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, under the jurisdiction of the Mayor of Chicago. The Chicago Fire Department is the second largest municipal fire department in the United States after the New York City Fire Department (FDNY). It is also one of the oldest major organized fire departments in the nation. It has numerous general purpose and specialized vehicles and equipment to accomplish its missions.
The City of Toronto Paramedic Services, is the statutory emergency medical services provider in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The service is operated as a division of the City of Toronto, under the Community & Social Services cluster. The service is funded by the municipal tax base, and operates similarly to other municipal divisions, such as the Toronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation division, or the Toronto Water division, but retains operational independence from other divisions. While under municipal government control, it is subject to provincial legislation and licensing. It is not the only service provider in its area; private-for-profit medical transport services also provide routine, non-emergency transports and coverage for special events, but the statutory emergency medical system is the only provider permitted to service emergency calls.
The Hong Kong Fire Services Department is an emergency service responsible for firefighting and rescue on land and sea. It also provides an emergency ambulance service for the sick and the injured and gives fire protection advice to the public. It is under the Secretary for Security who heads the Security Bureau.
A nontransporting EMS vehicle, also known as a squad car, fly-car, response vehicle, quick response service (QRS) vehicle,chase car, or fast response vehicle, is a vehicle that responds to and provides emergency medical services (EMS) without the ability to transport patients. For patients whose condition requires transport, an ambulance is necessary. In some cases they may fulfill other duties when not participating in EMS operations, such as policing or fire suppression.
The California Emergency Medical Services Authority is an agency of California State government. The California EMS Authority is one of the thirteen departments within the California Health and Human Services Agency. The director is required to be a physician with substantial experience in emergency medicine. Elizabeth Basnett is the current Acting Director.
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.
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 90,000 calls for service, both emergency and non-emergency, each year.
In the United States, emergency medical services (EMS) provide out-of-hospital acute medical care and/or transport to definitive care for those in need. They are regulated at the most basic level by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which sets the minimum standards that all states' EMS providers must meet, and regulated more strictly by individual state governments, which often require higher standards from the services they oversee.
Police departments in the University of California system are charged with providing law enforcement to each of the system's campuses.
Cypress Creek Emergency Medical ServicesAssociation, also known as Cypress Creek EMS (CCEMS) was a private, non-profit emergency medical service provider for Harris County ESD 11 in North Harris County, within greater Houston, Texas. In 2021, CCEMS declared bankruptcy and operations ceased in mid 2022. In late 2022, the remaining assets, branding, and trademarks were bought by Viking Enterprises, DBA City Ambulance Service. All ambulances in use by CCEMS are Mobile Intensive Care Units (MICU), with at least one Paramedic, making all ambulances ALS units. Cypress Creek EMS provided 911 service in North Harris County, provided bicycle medic teams for special events, provided tactical EMS support for federal, state, and local law enforcement, and operated an accredited educational institution.
The Detroit Fire Department (DFD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan.
The New Haven Fire Department (NHFD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the city of New Haven, Connecticut. The New Haven Fire Department currently serves a population of over 130,000 people living in 19 square miles of land and is one of the largest fire departments in the state.
The New York City Fire Department Bureau of Emergency Medical Services is a division of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) in charge of emergency medical services for New York City. It was established on March 17, 1996, following the merger of the FDNY and New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation's emergency medical services division. FDNY EMS provides coverage of all five boroughs of New York City with ambulances and a variety of specialized response vehicles.
The Vancouver Fire Department (VFD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the city of Vancouver and, by contract, Clark County Fire District 5, in Washington, United States. The VFD's response area is 91 square miles (240 km2) with a population of over 288,000 (2021). The VFD has the highest call volume per firefighter in the state. ALS transport is provided by AMR, making the VFD's service area population by far the largest in Western Washington without public ALS ambulance service.
The Virginia Beach Department of Emergency Medical Services is the 911 EMS provider for Virginia Beach, Virginia. Virginia Beach is the largest city in the United States with a volunteer based EMS system. Since the 1940s Virginia Beach has offered free pre-hospital emergency services through 10 volunteer rescue squads supported by 1,100+ volunteers throughout the city. Virginia beach EMS has also been a leader in a variety of pre-hospital technologies including 12-lead transmission, EZ-IO technology and therapeutic hypothermia, rapid sequence induction, video laryngoscope, end tidal CO2 monitoring, STEMI and Stroke programs and community CPR, among others. These programs and more have contributed to the 36% cardiac arrest survival rate (2012). I
The City of Cleveland Division of Emergency Medical Service, also known as Cleveland EMS or CEMS, is the division of the municipal government tasked with emergency ambulance transport for the City of Cleveland, Ohio.
The Pittsburgh Bureau of Emergency Medical Services (PEMS) provides emergency medical services and medically directed rescue services for the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is a bureau of the Department of Public Safety (DPS), along with the Bureaus of Police, Administration, Fire, and Animal Care and Control. The department is responsible for 55.5 square miles (144 km2) with a population of 305,841 as of the 2013 Census estimation. The Bureau was founded in 1975 by the then current city administration, absorbing Freedom House Ambulance. In addition, the Bureau of EMS was one of the first EMS agencies in the world.
