emergency medical service

emergency medical service

A system, created by the US government in 1973 that provides emergency care intimately linked to a universal emergency telephone number, 911; the care is provided from vehicles, ie ambulance or helicopter, by certified and licensed personnel–eg, emergency medical technicians, in restricted geographic regions; EMS services include: emergency medical communications, transportation, disaster plans, consumer training programs. See Air ambulance, EMT-A, EMT-D, EMT-I. Cf First responder.

McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.