Understanding Emergency Medical Services (EMS): Definitions & Importance

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is a public service that responds and treats life-threatening conditions. EMS encapsulates a variety of positions, including 911 call-workers, medical personnel who treat victims on-site and the emergency room staff.

Significance

• EMS saves lives. EMS teams respond quickly to emergency situations where patients are severely injured or are in life-threatening situations. The response of an EMS can mean the life or death of the patient.

Function

• EMS provides emergency services in life-threatening situations. The function is to serve medical services in the home when people call 911 and respond to accidents, such as a car or boat crash. EMS also responds after natural disasters like fires, hurricanes or tornadoes.

Structure

• The starting point for EMS response is when a public citizen or police officer calls 911. The 911 dispatcher gathers information and alerts EMS personnel. Ambulance workers and fire personnel arrive on location and transport injured victims to hospital emergency rooms.

Identification

• EMS personnel wear uniforms that identify themselves as staff. Fire trucks and ambulances are identified by flashing lights and fluorescent markings on the car.

Expert Insight

• According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, a study found that half of American adults confused 9-1-1 emergency medical services with 4-1-1 (see Reference 1). Only one in five Americans had spoken to a doctor for advice in what to do in an emergency.