Chapter 1: EMS Systems

Question 1

1. Consists of a team of health care professionals
2. Provides emergency care and transport
3. Is governed by state laws

Answer 1

EMS System

Question 2

What are the four EMS training & licensure levels?

Answer 2

1. EMR
2. EMT
3. AEMT
4. Paramedic

Question 3

Has very basic training which includes:

1. Provides care before ambulance arrives
2. May assist in the ambulance

Answer 3

Emergency Medical Responder (EMR)

Question 4

Has training in basic life support (BLS), including:

1. Automated external defibrillation
2. Airway adjuncts
3. Assisting patients with certain medications

Answer 4

Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)

Question 5

Has training in specific aspects of advanced life support (ALS), including:

1. Intravenous (IV) therapy
2. Administration of a limited number of emergency medications

Answer 5

Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (AEMT)

Question 6

Has extensive ALS training, including:

1. Endotracheal intubation
2. Emergency pharmacology
3. Cardiac monitoring
4. Other advanced assessment and treatment skills

Answer 6

Paramedic

Question 7

EMS

Answer 7

Emergency Medical Services

Question 8

1. Protects people who have a disability from being denied access to programs and services that are provided by state or local governments
2. Prohibits employers from failing to provide full and equal employment to the disabled
3. Title I: protects EMTs with disabilities who are seeking gainful employment under many circumstances

Answer 8

The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990

Question 9

History of EMS

Answer 9

History of EMS includes:

1. Volunteer ambulances in World War I
2. Field care in World War II
3. Field medic and rapid helicopter evacuation in Korean conflict

Question 10

EMS as we know it today originated in 1966 with the publication of…

Answer 10

Accidental Death and Disability: The Neglected Disease of Modern Society (more commonly known as “The White Paper”).

Question 11

…published the first EMT training curriculum in the early 1970s

Answer 11

The Department of Transportation (DOT)

Question 12

…prepared and published the first EMT textbook in 1971.

a. It is often called “The Orange Book.”
b. Your textbook is the 11th edition of that book.

Answer 12

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons

Question 13

National EMS standardization efforts

Answer 13

a. In the late 1970s, the DOT developed a recommended National Standard Curriculum.
b. During the 1980s, many areas enhanced the EMT National Standard Curriculum by adding EMTs with advanced levels of training who could provide key components of ALS care and advanced life-saving procedures.
c. In the 1990s, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) developed the EMS Agenda for the Future, a document with a plan to standardize the levels of EMS education and providers.

Question 14

Advanced life-saving procedures, some of which are now being provided by the EMT.

Answer 14

Advanced Life Support (ALS)

Question 15

AED

Answer 15

Automated External Defibrillator

Question 16

A device that detects treatable, life-threatening, cardiac dysrhythmias (ventricular fibrillation & ventricular tachycardia) and delivers the appropriate electrical shock to patient.

Answer 16

Automated External Defibrillator (AED)

Question 17

Process in which a person, institution, or program is evaluated and recognized as meeting certain predetermined standards to provide safe, ethical care.

Answer 17

Certification

Question 18

Healthcare model in which experienced paramedics receive advanced training to equip them to provide additional services in the prehospital environment, such as health evaluations, monitoring of chronic illnesses or conditions, and patient advocacy.

Answer 18

Community Paramedicine

Question 19

CQI

Answer 19

Continuous Quality Improvement

Question 20

System of internal and external reviews and audits of all aspects of an EMS system.

Answer 20

Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)

Question 21

EMD

Answer 21

Emergency Medical Dispatch

Question 22

System that assists dispatchers in selecting appropriate units to respond to a particular call for assistance and provides callers with vital instructions until the arrival of EMS crews.

Answer 22

Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD)

Question 23

HIPAA

Answer 23

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

Question 24

Federal legislation passed in 1996. Its main effect in EMS is limiting availability of patient’s health care information and penalizing violations of patient privacy.

Answer 24

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

Question 25

The delivery of medication directly into a vein.

Answer 25

Intravenous (IV) Therapy

Question 26

Process whereby a competent authority, usually the state, allows people to perform regulated acts.

Answer 26

Licensure

Question 27

Physician instructions given directly by radio or cell phone (on-line/direct) or indirectly by protocol or guidelines (off-line/indirect), as authorized by the Medical Director of the service program.

Answer 27

Medical Control

Question 28

Physician who authorizes or delegates to the EMT the authority to provide medical care.

Answer 28

Medical Director

Question 29

MIH

Answer 29

Mobile Integrated Healthcare

Question 30

Method of delivering health care which involves providing health care within the community rather than at a physician’s office or fixed location.

Answer 30

Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH)

Question 31

Document created by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) that outlines the skills performed by various EMS providers.

Answer 31

National EMS Scope of Practice Model

Question 32

Efforts to prevent an injury or illness from ever occurring.

Answer 32

Primary Prevention

Question 33

PSA

Answer 33

Primary Service Area

Question 34

Designated area in which the EMS agency is responsible for the provision of prehospital emergency care and transportation to the hospital.

Answer 34

Primary Service Area (PSA)

Question 35

…is focused on examining the health needs of the entire population with the goal of preventing health problems.

Answer 35

Public Health

Question 36

A call center, staffed by trained personnel who are responsible for managing requests for police, fire, and ambulance services.

Answer 36

Public Safety Access Point

Question 37

Responsibility of the medical director to ensure the appropriate medical care standards are met by EMTs on each call.

Answer 37

Quality Control

Question 38

Efforts to limit the effects of an injury or illness that you cannot completely prevent.

Answer 38

Secondary Prevention

Question 39

What agency is the federal source of EMT standards?

Answer 39

National Highway Traffic Safety ADministration