Chapter One – About This Document Overview This is a text box Emergency medical services (EMS) is a system of During a public health emergency, coordinated response and emergency medical care EMS may be overwhelmed quickly involving dispatch centers, ambulance agencies, hospitals, by the demands of patients with and specialty care centers (e.g., trauma, burn, pediatrics). illness or injury who require (1, 2) Under this EMS system, EMS care "is provided by transport as well as those with complaints. well-trained and equipped personnel using standardized protocols and guidelines approved by medical directors." (2) For single-patient and mass casualty calls to 9-1-1, EMS provides initial response and field care and then coordinates patient movement and entry into a hospital emergency department (ED) or specialty center. In some circumstances, EMS is used regularly by patients who may be better—and more efficiently—managed outside of acute care hospital EDs. (3) During a public health emergency, About This Document EMS may be overwhelmed quickly by the demands of patients with Emergency response requires advance planning for medical illness or injury who require surge—the ability to provide adequate medical evaluation transport as well as those with and care during events that exceed the limits of the normal non-acute complaints. EMS medical infrastructure of an affected community. agencies must plan for medical Hospitals across the United States experience medical surge surge in order to provide adequate on a daily basis that requires expansion of patient care medical evaluation and care when beyond what is provided under normal operations. This demand exceeds available document addresses medical surge that requires a much resources. EMS agencies and larger expansion of patient care than most hospitals have organizations and local, state, and ever encountered. federal governments acknowledge the critical need for EMS medical This document takes an all-hazards approach to planning for medical surge. The principles addressed apply to any surge planning. These groups have emergency, including natural disasters, widespread identified current medical surge outbreaks of infectious diseases, or any other event that planning as inadequate. (2, 4) pushes medical demand beyond the day-to-day capacity of a community's healthcare system. The Federal Interagency Committee on Emergency Medical Services (FICEMS) and the National Academies of Science (NAS) have recognized that, in order to accommodate medical surge during an emergency, EMS
Chapter One – About This Document Overview This is a text box During a public health emergency, EMS may be overwhelmed quickly by the demands of patients with illness or injury who require transport as well as those with complaints. Emergency medical services (EMS) is a system of coordinated response and emergency medical care involving dispatch centers, ambulance agencies, hospitals, and specialty care centers (e.g., trauma, burn, pediatrics). (1, 2) Under this EMS system, EMS care "is provided by well-trained and equipped personnel using standardized protocols and guidelines approved by medical directors." (2) For single-patient and mass casualty calls to 9-1-1, EMS provides initial response and field care and then coordinates patient movement and entry into a hospital emergency department (ED) or specialty center. In some circumstances, EMS is used regularly by patients who may be better—and more efficiently—managed outside of acute care hospital EDs. (3) About This Document Emergency response requires advance planning for medical surge—the ability to provide adequate medical evaluation and care during events that exceed the limits of the normal medical infrastructure of an affected community. Hospitals across the United States experience medical surge on a daily basis that requires expansion of patient care beyond what is provided under normal operations. This document addresses medical surge that requires a much larger expansion of patient care than most hospitals have ever encountered. This document takes an all-hazards approach to planning for medical surge. The principles addressed apply to any emergency, including natural disasters, widespread outbreaks of infectious diseases, or any other event that pushes medical demand beyond the day-to-day capacity of a community's healthcare system. During a public health emergency, EMS may be overwhelmed quickly by the demands of patients with illness or injury who require transport as well as those with non-acute complaints. EMS agencies must plan for medical surge in order to provide adequate medical evaluation and care when demand exceeds available resources. EMS agencies and organizations and local, state, and federal governments acknowledge the critical need for EMS medical surge planning. These groups have identified current medical surge planning as inadequate. (2, 4) The Federal Interagency Committee on Emergency Medical Services (FICEMS) and the National Academies of Science (NAS) have recognized that, in order to accommodate medical surge during an emergency, EMS