Does EMS Need a Name Change?

There's much discussion within, and among, several prominent EMS organizations and associations around the country, as well as the National EMS Advisory Council, that the EMS industry has grown into its own healthcare discipline, with several sub-domains, and it's time we redefine ourselves as an industry and modify the nomenclature we use to describe ourselves. Proponents of this idea believe that EMS and 9-1-1 response is just one aspect of what we do. We also provide community paramedicine services, preventive healthcare screenings, mass gathering care, non-emergent medical transportation and specialty care transport services, including interfacility medevac. Our Own Discipline So are we our own "discipline"? A healthcare discipline is generally defined as "a branch or domain of knowledge, instruction, or learning of medicine." We have training programs around the country that specialize in our branch of medicine, which is treating the suddenly and acutely ill or injured outside of healthcare institutions. These programs are accredited by independent organizations attesting to their competence and have their own textbooks that inform both the clinical care we provide and how we administer our systems. We have our own trade magazines and peer-reviewed journals and conduct our own research. We have national conferences focused on our field, nationally recognized independent boards and commissions that assess and credential our services and practitioners, ...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Columns Administration and Leadership Source Type: news