Emergency Medical Service or EMS is a type of medical help and approach in times of acute and severe situations that requires special and advanced skills in times of need. A situation can be considered an emergency based on the how much injury has been done where the patient as well as the medical person consider it as such. Emergencies tend to demand a faster approach whether it’s first aid or transfer from a destination to the nearest hospital. Because of high demands on such crucial times, EMS is a separate medical unit with a highly trained medical team fit to face the pressures and challenges the job requires.
Other than being a whole separate medical unit itself, EMS is made up of people who have their own special tasks. Each of these tasks belongs to a certain level of care. To some extent, these will be determined by country and locale, with each individual country having its own ‘approach’ to how EMS should be provided, and by whom.
There are three types of medical approach or levels of care in the EMS: Basic Life Support, Advanced Life Support and care by traditional healthcare professionals.
Basic Life Support
Basic Life Support is the level of medical care which is used for patients with life-threatening illnesses or injuries until the patient can be given full medical care at a hospital. The first level of emergency approach can be provided by trained medical staff such as emergency medical technicians, paramedics who have undergone BLS training. People involved in the BLS level are the:
First Responder- provides the initial care intended for critical situations in an emergency site. The first responder is the one who handles the injured patient first where he performs medical methods such as CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation) or using an AED (automated external defibrillator)
Ambulance Driver- ambulance drivers vary from country to country. However, most of the countries today doesn’t just hire regular drivers to perform the job. An ambulance driver may have to be trained in radio communications, ambulance operations and emergency response driving skills.
Ambulance Technician & Ambulance Care Assistant- The AT is the one responsible for providing the advanced care needed once the patient is being transported to the nearest hospital. Their assistants are the ones who are in charged of placing the body into the stretcher and helping the AT on tasks such as automated defibrillation, care of spinal injuries and oxygen therapy.
Advanced Life Support
Advanced Life Support (ALS) is a more complex approach the extends the skills and tasks of the Basic Life Support unit. ALS usually performs Cardiac monitoring, Cardiac defibrillation, Transcutaneous pacing, Intravenous cannulation (IV),Intraosseous (IO) access and intraosseous infusion, Surgical cricothyrotomy and more. Medical personnel involved under ALS are the:
Paramedic- this job involves a high level of prehospital medical training which cannot be compared to technicians because of the weight of the responsibility that is included. One cannot be easily called a Paramedic without the legalities involved. Claiming to be a paramedic even if not can be considered a criminal offence.
