For the first time we brought care to you – but only in an emergency. It was an enormous step up from a stretcher in a hearse supplied by a funeral home (because they had the vehicles).
From the extremes of defibrillating a cardiac patient in a marathon to assisting a senior citizen with her or his prescriptions for cancer treatment or congestive heart failure: is EMS an emergency service, a health care service or a preventive medical service?
The answer to that depends on who you ask, as EMS still has several delivery models and philosophical approaches.
Are we a community service in the continuum of healthcare or just the angels of 3:00 AM? We are balancing the original-and-since-improved, yet cobbled-together, EMS system as an essential service with the changing needs of healthcare for our citizenry.
Further Reading:
Woodyard, D. R. (2023) EMS in the United States: Fragmented Past, Future of Opportunity. Colorado: Donnie Woodyard
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