Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services ""pre-hospital care"" 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 at least be EMT certified.
In the United States, an interstate compact is a pact or agreement between two or more states, or between states and any foreign sub-national government.
A certified first responder is a person who has completed a course and received certification in providing pre-hospital care for medical emergencies. Certified individuals should have received much more instruction than someone who is trained in basic first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) but they are not necessarily a substitute for more advanced emergency medical care rendered by emergency medical technicians and paramedics. First responders typically provide advanced first aid level care, CPR, and automated external defibrillator (AED) usage. The term "certified first responder" is not to be confused with "first responder", which is a generic term referring to the first medically trained responder to arrive on scene and medically trained telecommunication operators who provide pre-arrival medical instructions as trained Emergency Medical Dispatchers (EMD). Many police officers and firefighters are required to receive training as certified first responders. Advanced medical care is typically provided by EMS, although some police officers and firefighters also train to become emergency medical technicians or paramedics.
The Star of Life is a symbol used to identify emergency medical services. It features a blue six-pointed star, outlined by a white border. The middle contains a Rod of Asclepius – an ancient symbol of medicine. The Star of Life can be found on ambulances, medical personnel uniforms, and other objects associated with emergency medicine or first aid. Elevators marked with the symbol indicate the lift is large enough to hold a stretcher. Medical bracelets sometimes use the symbol to indicate one has a medical condition that emergency services should be aware of.
Scope of practice describes the activities and duties that a healthcare professional is permitted to undertake. The limits on the actions of these practitioners are set by the terms of their professional license and what the law allows. Each jurisdiction can have laws, licensing bodies, and regulations that describe requirements for education and training, and define scope of practice.
The California State Guard (CSG) is a military unit which provides assistance and training to the California National Guard and is a military force of California. The CSG is a reserve force that supports the state missions and federal readiness of the Army and Air National Guard. CSG service members often come from all branches of the military and are citizens with essential skills. Many CSG service members are fully integrated with Army National Guard and Air National Guard units, and hold full-time state active duty status through the California Military Department.
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.
In the United States, the paramedic is an allied health professional whose primary focus is to provide advanced emergency medical care for patients who access Emergency Medical Services (EMS). This individual possesses the complex knowledge and skills necessary to provide patient care and transportation. Paramedics function as part of a comprehensive EMS response under physician medical direction. Paramedics often serve in a prehospital role, responding to Public safety answering point (9-1-1) calls in an ambulance. The paramedic serves as the initial entry point into the health care system. A standard requirement for state licensure involves successful completion of a nationally accredited Paramedic program at the certificate or associate degree level.
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.
In the United States, paramedicine is the physician-directed practice of medicine, often viewed as the intersection of health care, public health, and public safety. While discussed for many years, the concept of paramedicine was first formally described in the EMS Agenda for the Future. Paramedicine represents an expansion of the traditional notion of emergency medical services as simply an emergency response system. Paramedicine is the totality of the roles and responsibilities of individuals trained and credentialed as EMS practitioners. These practitioners have been referred to as various levels of emergency medical technician (EMTs). In the US, paramedics represent the highest practitioner level in this domain. Additional practitioner levels in this domain within the US include emergency medical responders (EMRs), emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and advanced emergency medical technicians (AEMTs).
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 National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) is a US based, non-profit certification organization for pre-hospital emergency medical providers that exists to ensure that every Emergency Medical Technician has the knowledge and skills required for competent practice.
An advanced emergency medical technician (AEMT) is a provider of emergency medical services in the United States. A transition to this level of training from the emergency medical technician-intermediate, which have somewhat less training, began in 2013 and has been implemented by most states. AEMTs are not intended to deliver definitive medical care in most cases, but rather to augment prehospital critical care and provide rapid on-scene treatment. AEMTs are usually employed in ambulance services, working in conjunction with EMTs and paramedics; however they are also commonly found in fire departments and law enforcement agencies as non-transporting first responders. Ambulances operating at the AEMT level of care are commonplace in rural areas, and occasionally found in larger cities as part of a tiered-response system, but are overall much less common than EMT- and paramedic-level ambulances. The AEMT provides a low-cost, high-benefit option to provide advanced-level care when the paramedic level of care is not feasible. The AEMT is authorized to provide limited advanced life support, which is beyond the scope of an EMT.
In the United States, the licensing of prehospital emergency medical providers and oversight of emergency medical services are governed at the state level. Each state is free to add or subtract levels as each state sees fit. Therefore, due to differing needs and system development paths, the levels, education requirements, and scope of practice of prehospital providers varies from state to state. Even though primary management and regulation of prehospital providers is at the state level, the federal government does have a model scope of practice including minimum skills for EMRs, EMTs, Advanced EMTs and Paramedics set through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Emergency Medical Responders (EMRs) are people who are specially trained to provide out-of-hospital care in medical emergencies, typically before the arrival of an ambulance. Specifically used, an emergency medical responder is an EMS certification level used to describe a level of EMS provider below that of an emergency medical technician and paramedic. However, the EMR is not intended to replace the roles of such providers and their wide range of specialties.
The Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) is an agreement that allows mutual recognition (reciprocity) of a nursing license between member U.S. states. Enacted into law by the participating states, the NLC allows a nurse who is a legal resident of and possesses a nursing license in a compact state to practice in any of the other compact states without obtaining additional licensure in the remote states. It applies to both registered and practical nurses and is also referred to as a multi-state license.
The Veteran Emergency Medical Technician Support Act of 2013 is a bill in the 113th United States Congress. The bill was introduced on January 14, 2013, by Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL). It passed the United States House of Representatives on February 12, 2013, by a voice vote, indicating that it was generally non-controversial.
IAEP is a labor union, a division of NAGE / SEIU Local 5000 that represents EMS professionals working for public, "third service", and private ambulance in self-autonomous union locals. IAEP locals elect their own local governing executive boards and officers and are provided representational, legal, contract, and political support by NAGE but govern and manage their own affairs.
