Tracing the Roots: A Detailed Look at the Origin and History of EMS

This essay provides a detailed overview of the origin and history of Emergency Medical Services (EMS). It traces the evolution of EMS from its early applications in battle to its modern, coordinated system of emergency healthcare. The essay highlights key milestones such as the use of ambulances in the 19th century, the impact of World Wars, and the legislative actions in the United States that shaped EMS. It discusses significant reports and initiatives, including the EMS Systems Act of 1973 and the EMS Agenda for the Future in 1995, which aimed to improve and integrate EMS with the broader healthcare system. The essay concludes by emphasizing the ongoing need for advancements and improvements in EMS to enhance the quality of care and effectiveness of emergency medical services, with resources available through various organizations.

Running Head: ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF EMS
0
Origin and history of EMS
Student Name

ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF EMS
1
Emergency medical services mostly termed as EMS, is the system that delivers
emergency medical health care to people in a short period of time. Once t is activated by any
type of incident that causes severe illness or harm, the concentration of EMS is an emergency
medical upkeep of the diseased persons (Shah, 2006). The emergency medical services are
easily identified when the emergency vehicles or ambulance helicopters are seen reacting or
responding to the emergency incident. However, EMS has much value than just a ride
towards the hospital. It is basically a system of coordinated response and emergency health
care, including multiple people and companies or agencies (Schuurman, Bell, L'Heureux, &
Hameed, 2009).
The history of emergency services is wide and deep. The emergency care in the
medical field has been concentrated in dissimilar types since the staring of the recorded
history. The first application of ambulance as the specialized vehicle took place in battle by
Dominique Jean Larrey (Edgerly, 2013). In the early phase, the vehicle used for emergency
services was the four-wheeled horse down wagons which was first approved inn1794 and
used in 1796 for the first time. The advancement in the ambulance has been made in 1832 for
using the vehicles as the transport medium for cholera patients in London. The history of
EMS in American region can be recognized by the civil battle era. All the soldierly
individuals had to be analyzed by the health professionals to the quality if their duty. Also,
the ambulances were allotted dependent on the mass of the troop. All the ambulance teams
were trained in the paint care in order to provide better care of the soldiers. In the year of
1865, Cincinnati integrated the first public ambulance. After that in 1869, a 30 seconds
advertisement has been released and delivered an ambulance clinician and the quart of brandy
for their diseased persons (Collen, & Ball, 2015).

ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF EMS
2
During the First World War, the indication boxes were applied by the injured
soldiers to help the health teams in transporting them in the battlefields. The electric, steam
and the gasoline carriages have also been used for conveying the injured people. It was
likewise the first war to use traction immobilizes and other health related equipment (Bucher,
& Zaidi, 2018).
In the year of1960, President John F. Kennedy confirmed that Traffic misfortunes
establish one of the highest, possibly the greatest, of the country's public health difficulties. It
was not till 1965 that the road of EMS in all over the United States had the perspective to
progress (Myers, JSlovis, Eckstein, Goodloe, Isaacs, Loflin, & Pepe, 2008). In 1966, the
President's command on highway and President Lyndon B. Johnson and the Safety/State
Academy of Sciences proclaim the carnage "the abandoned disease of contemporary society."
Soon afterward, the National Highway Transportation (traffic) Safety Act was accepted
which uniform EMS training, endorsed state involvement, fortified society misunderstanding,
suggested radio communication, and harassed a lone emergency number (Shah, 2006).
In the initial 1970s, further investigation and policy preparation concentrated on the
unmet requirements of EMS. In the year of 1972, the NAS/NRC published another report on
Emergency medical services entitled Roles and Possessions of Federal Organizations in
Support of Complete Emergency Medical Facilities. The report articulated alarm that the
central effort to upgrading EMS had not retained speed with what was desired. It advised the
addition of all federal EMS determinations into the Department of Health, Education and
Welfare (DHEW) (West Virginia Department of Education, 2018). The published report also
specified that the principal point for native EMS must be at the national rather than the
central level and that all energies should be synchronized through provincial programs
(Myers et al., 2008).

ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF EMS
3
In 1973, Assembly ordained the EMS Schemes Act, which shaped a new funding
program to advance the growth of local EMS structures. The determined of the regulation
was to recover and organize care in all over the nation by the formation of an
uncompromising grant platform run by the novel Division of Emergency Medicinal Facilities
contained by DHEW. This particular program converted into a conclusive factor in the
countrywide growth of local EMS arrangements. Millions of bucks were reserved for EMS
preparation, devices, and investigation. In whole, more than 300 million dollars were taken
for EMS viability readings, planning, processes, expansion and development, and
investigation. Likewise, in 1974 The Robert Wood Johnson Establishment took $15 million
to help 44 local EMS plans. To this day, these leftovers the major private funding for EMS
scheme improvement ever granted (West Virginia Department of Education, 2018)
In the year of 1981, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) removed the
categorical central backing to states recognized by the 1973 EMS Schemes Act in support of
block donations to states for preventative health and wellbeing services. This alteration
shifted accountability for EMS from the central to the state level. Formerly states had better
discretion concerning the use of resources, most elected to use the money in regions of
requirement other than EMS (Edgerly, 2013).
In 1985, the report published by NRC titled Injury in America: A Current
Health Problem labeled the limited development that had been achieved in dealing with the
issue of accidental expiry and incapacity. The published report recognized the necessity for a
central organization to the emphasis on harms as a community health issue. In reaction, the
injury program was recognized at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that
advanced injury avoidance and regulator from a civic wellbeing viewpoint (Collen, & Ball,
2015).

ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF EMS
4
In 1995, by the influence of then NHTSA Supervisor Ricardo Martinez, NHTSA and
HRSA appointed a strategic design for the upcoming EMS scheme. The subsequent
report, Emergency Medical Services Agenda for the Future (NHTSA), drew a visualization of
an EMS scheme that is combined with the well-being care scheme, active in delivering public
wellbeing, and sufficiently subsidized and available (Bass, 2015). In 1996 the EMS Program
for the Upcoming days was recruited, which more linked EMS with the other health
professions. That similar year, the EMS teaching program for the future was conscripted,
which delivered suggestions for essential content, choice of practice and documentation of
EMS specialists (Shah, 2006).
As a comparative new-comer when associated with other emergency facilities such as
fire or police subdivisions, EMS has journeyed a long way in a comparatively limited period
of time. Meanwhile that period, pre-hospital emergency health care has repeatedly changed
and enhanced system (Myers, et al., 2008). The EMT has been recognized as a bona fide
associate of the wellbeing care team. Tremendous training platforms have been established
and an energetic concentration has been located on enduring education. Nationwide criterions
have been recognized. Ambulance device basics have been established. National
authorization of paramedic courses has been attained, and specialised relations for the EMT
have been prearranged (Bass, 2015).
More freshly, in 2001, the United States’ General Accounting Office (GAO)
published a complete reading of native EMS scheme requirements and of the national
regulatory organizations accountable for refining EMS results. The report categorized the
requirements as considerable and extensive and collected the issues recognized fewer than
four groups: personnel, exercise, equipment, and health direction. The report was renowned
that the degree of local requirements was problematic to control since little standard and

ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF EMS
5
calculable info be present for use in relating presentation through the system (Myers, et al.,
2008).
EMS nowadays is developed and advanced but the advancement should never be
stopped, therefore more improvements are obligatory. Alterations remain to be made on
nearly yearly, planned to progress the upkeep that is delivered and the excellence of EMS.
Today, economic help for EMS is delivered by the numerous sections and organizations that
have authority over EMS (Bucher, & Zaidi, 2018).

ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF EMS
6
References
Bass, R. R. (2015). History of EMS. Retrieved from:
https://www.augusta.edu/mcg/em/ed/fellowships/ems/emsreading1.pdf
Bucher, J., & Zaidi, H. Q. (2018). A brief history of emergency medical services in the United
States. Retrieved from: https://www.emra.org/about-emra/history/ems-history/
Collen, M. F., & Ball, M. J. (Eds.). (2015). The history of medical informatics in the United
States. Springer.
Edgerly, D. (2013). Birth of EMS. The history of the paramedic. JEMS, 38(10), 46-48.
Myers, J. B., Slovis, C. M., Eckstein, M., Goodloe, J. M., Isaacs, S. M., Loflin, J. R., & Pepe,
P. E. (2008). Evidence-Based Performance Measures for Emergency Medical Services
Systems: A Model for Expanded EMS Benchmarking: A Statement Developed by the
2007 Consortium US Metropolitan Municipalities' EMS Medical
Directors. Prehospital Emergency Care, 12(2), 141-151.
Schuurman, N., Bell, N. J., L'Heureux, R., & Hameed, S. M. (2009). Modeling optimal
location for pre-hospital helicopter emergency medical services. BMC emergency
medicine, 9(1), 6.
Shah, M. N. (2006). The formation of the emergency medical services system, American
journal of public health, 96(3), 414-423.
West Virginia Department of Education (2018). A brief history of emergency medical
services. Retrieved from: https://wvde.state.wv.us/abe/Public%20Service
%20Personnel/HistoryofEMS.html