Emergency Medical Services system

Rand, D. A., Mener, D. J., Lerner, E. B., DeRobertis, N. (2005). The effect of an 18-hour electrical power outage on an urban emergency medical services system. Prehospital Emergency Care, 9, 391-397. 

Verbeek, P. R., McClelland, I. W, Silverman, A. C., Burgess, R. J. (2004). Loss of paramedic availability in an urban emergency medical services systems during a severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak. Academic Emergency Medicine, 11, 973-978. 

Katz SH, Falk JL. Misplaced endotracheal tubes by paramedics in an urban emergency medical services system. Ann Emerg Med 2001 37(l) 32-7. 

White, R.D. Hankins, D.G. Bugliosi, T.F. Seven years experience with early defibrillation by police and paramedics in an emergency medical services system. Resuscitation 1998, 39, 145-151. 

Moles TM (1999). Emergency medical services systems and HAZMAT major incidents. Resuscitation, 42, 103-107. 

The EHS system is a complex combination of various providers and facilities that provide three basic medical functions evacuation, stabilization, and redistribution. Although organizational structures and resources vary worldwide, the fundamental components of any EHS system are essentially the same. Those components are the emergency medical services (EMS) system, emergency departments (ED), and alternate sources of emergency care. 

In turn, EHS will typically refer to a disaster as a natural or man-made phenomenon that results in the destruction or dysfunction of the available response infrastructure to meet the community s need for health care (ASTM F-30 Committee, 1996 Auf der Heide, 1989 Emergency Medical Services Committee, 2001 FEMA, 1992). Thus in the case of a hurricane or power outage, only a few injured people may require medical care however, because the health system infrastructure may have been destroyed, the disaster may clearly require outside assistance to meet the health care demands of the community. This type of disaster is sometimes referred to as a paralytic disaster because it has the potential to eliminate the EHS s ability to respond to any call for services, let alone extra demands for care resulting from the event. 

California Medical Association. (2006). California s emergency medical services A system in crisis. Retrieved February 10, 2006, from http //www.cmanet.org/upload/ERWhitePaper. pdf... 

O Connor, R. E., Lerner, E. B., Allswede, M., Billittier, A. J., IV, Blackwell, T, Hunt, R. C., et al. (2004). Linkages of acute care and emergency medical services to state and local public health programs The role of interactive information systems for responding to events resulting in mass injury. Prehospital Emergency Care, 8, 237-253. 

Currently, the most common model for disaster response in the hospital sector is the Incident Command System (ICS) model (Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA], 2001). In 1992 the Hospital Emergency Incident Command System (HEICS) was first developed by the California Emergency Medical Services Authority and the San Mateo County Health Services Agency. It is important to remember that HEICS is not a disaster plan, but rather a model on which a plan can be developed. In 2006 the model was updated and it is now known as the Hospital Incident Command System (HlCS). The newer model of incident command for hospitals includes ... 

California Emergency Medical Services Authority. (2007). Hospital Incident Command system. Retrieved April 2, 2007 from http //WWW. emsa. ca.gov/hics/hics.asp... 

A common algorithm that is used with adult prehospital triage is the Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment (START). START was developed by the Newport Beach, California, Fire and Marine Department and Hoag Hospital. Emergency Medical Service (EMS) providers are very experienced in the use of the START system. The START system is easy to learn and simple to use. It is based on the person s ability to respond verbally and ambulate and their respirations, perfusion, and mental status (RPM). The system works as follows ... 

Gordon, D. (1988). The pope s visit Mass gatherings and the EMS System. Emergency Medical Services, 17(1), 38-44. 

Chemical Decontamination System at the Center for Emergency Medical Services, North Shore-long Island Jewish Health System (NSIIIHS)... 

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) System - The coordination of the prehospital system (e.g., public access, dispatch, EMTs/and medics, ambulance services) and... 

California Emergency Medical Services Authority. (2006), HICS Hospital Incident Command System. Sacramento, CA, California Emergency Medical Services Authority, October. Last viewed October 10, 2006, http /www.emsa.ca.gov/dms2/heics4project.asp... 

San Mateo County Health Services Agency Emergency Medical Services. (1998), HEICS The Hospital Emergency Incident Command System, Third Edition, Volumes I/II. San Mateo, CA, San Mateo County Health Services Agency, June. Last viewed October 10, 2006, http /H H H .en7ra.ca.gov/Dms2/heics3.htm... 

Natural interventions test the robustness and reliability of infrastructure design. The cost of earthquakes averages 4.4 billion per year (FEMA, 1999). Another intervention, space weather, was the culprit in 1998. When the Galaxy 4 satellite s attitude control system failed, radio, television, pager, bank machine, and other satellite-linked services across North America were disrupted. As an example of the cost, two pager companies that did not have backup systems in place lost 5.8 million. Indirect and intangible costs included lost credit card sales, missed market trades, inability to contact doctors and emergency medical services, and many others. 

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