EMS Emergency

Taken for Granted?

The more I look into emergency services the more complex it becomes, and the more I come to realise how very important it is to everyone who is a potential user.

What is EMS (Emergency Medical Service)?

A service to be found in all civilized countries, providing emergency first-aid response; sometimes known as the First-Aid Squad; The Emrgency Squad; The Rescue Squad; Ambulance Service; Ambulance Corps; or Life Squad.

The primary goals are to provide treatment in situ; in transit, or simply rapid transit to hospital  or clinic.

An ambulance can be requested by an ordinary member of the public, or by authorities. The principal differences are determined by the level of training of personnel in attandance. Those personnel who only provide rapid transit are no better than a taxi or private car, except that they provide a strecther for the patient which may be more comfortable.

 Ambulance personnel, including the driver should be certified in at least basic first-aid. At the other extreme end personnel include a doctor, nurse, and assistant, and driver offering Advanced Life Support and the best chance of survival.

Ambulances are owned and provided by Fire Services; Police services; National Health services; hospitals; and private companies that include large industrial corporations that maintain a fleet to deal with possible industrial accidents.

Ambulance crew titles include, Emergency Medical Technician, Ambulance Technicion, and, in my opinion the most extensively trained is The Paramedic. This person, in the United States and Canada might be certified to carry out a wide range of critical life-saving procedures outside of a hospital setting that no other person, except a doctor is authorised to do. That makes the Paramedic the star of the show.

There is so much potential work for ambulances that I was trying to imagine what an average day in the life of an ambulance might be like. I have concluded that there is no such thing. Presumably they can go for long periods of time without much of interest, then suddenly and without warning they are pressed into using every bit of skill they posses.

The odd thing is how much we take the ambulance service for granted. Even the driver might hold twenty or more certificates, so never again will I undervalue the men and women of our local ambulance.

Copyright (c) 2013   Eugene Carmichael