EMS Annual Report 2017 Home > Mobilizing Healthcare
Mobilizing Healthcare
The EMS Department serves an important role inside the
healthcare community as a “Safety Net” organization. What was envisioned
originally as a system to respond to acute life-threatening emergencies has
evolved so that it not only fills that original role but has also become an
integral part of the U.S. healthcare system.
EMS represents the intersection of public safety, public
health, and health care systems. A combination of the principles and resources
of each are employed and practiced by modern EMS systems. During the past 30
years EMS professionals have driven dramatic changes in technology and
prehospital medicine, professional education and the way emergency medical
services are managed to improve public health and emergency medical care.
The 1996 EMS Agenda for the Future established the vision
for Emergency Medical Services nationwide:
Emergency medical
services (EMS) of the future will be community-based health management that is
fully integrated with the overall health care system. It will have the ability to identify and
modify illness and injury risks, provide acute illness and injury care and follow-up,
and contribute to treatment of chronic conditions and community health
monitoring. This new entity will be
developed from redistribution of existing health care resources and will be
integrated with other health care providers and public health and public safety
agencies. It will improve community
health and result in more appropriate use of acute health care resources. EMS will remain the public’s emergency
medical safety net.
In Austin, EMS already plays a larger role in improving
health beyond the tradition of resuscitation and delivering patients to the
emergency department. Over the past decade we’ve expanded our programs and
services to include comprehensive solutions to further integrate public health
and EMS in an effort to help build community resilience and reduce dependency
on emergency services. For example, the
ATCEMS Community Health Paramedic Program works daily to improve access to
healthcare for persons experiencing homelessness and those with limited access
to healthcare resources. Proactive programs
like this offer tangible benefits for patients and communities to bridge gaps
between emergency services and primary care.
Texas law contained in the Health and Safety Code governs
EMS. The Texas Department of State Health
Services provides administrative oversight for EMS throughout the state. EMS personnel must acquire and maintain
licenses that allow them to deliver healthcare interventions for medical
conditions caused by acute, chronic, and traumatic conditions. Training and education focuses medical
assessments, and clinical interventions.
Studies include topics such as anatomy, physiology, pharmacology,
cardiology, and endocrinology.
The City of Austin EMS Department is a direct reflection of
the vision set out over twenty years ago for the EMS industry. The department responds to over 110,000
requests for assistance each year including conditions such as difficulty
breathing, chest pain, altered consciousness, drug overdoses, and many
conditions affected by social determinants of health and barriers to
healthcare. The department monitors
performance on various clinical and public safety measures and physicians
provide clinical practice oversight.
Distribution of Work
Examining the work of the EMS Department indicates that most
of the time, EMS personnel are engaged in providing medical care for patients
(71%) and a small portion of time responding (14%). Personnel also spend time disinfecting
medical equipment and replacing used medical supplies after every response
(14%). The chart below shows the
distribution of work on the process that occurs over 110,000 times a year.