When you’re lying on a gurney inserted into the back of an ambulance, you’re not really concerned with the history of emergency services. You’re only interested in the types of EMS services that cover what you’re suffering. Have we piqued your interest? Allow us to fascinate you with the history and types of emergency services.
A Short History
The Civil War was the first time great numbers of people needed medical care as fast as they could get it over large swaths of blue and gray occupied lands. Medics were trained to triage soldiers, then get them to the proper medical personnel. Ambulances consisted of wagons sometimes piled with layers of men.
It wasn’t until the 1950s that modern emergency services came up to bat. Fire trucks, limousines, police cars, tow trucks and more began ferrying the sick to hospitals. For serious cases, doctors made house calls.
In the mid-1960s, President Lyndon B. Johnson instituted formalized EMS training in response to the carnage found in traffic accidents piling up at that time. The TV show Emergency in the early 1970s brought emergency services into the American conscious like nothing ever had. An emergency phone number was established. Modern EMS was born.
Types Of EMS Services
Emergency services isn’t only about ambulances. It’s about transporting people between medical facilities. It’s about stabilizing people before and during the trip to the hospital. It’s about being on hand at sporting events, concerts, company events, and other large gatherings to treat injuries or other illnesses.
Emergency services offer stair chairs for those living upstairs and unable to get downstairs. They help wheelchair-bound patients get where they need to go. Emergency services also offers backup for other first responders in the event they need help or transportation of patients to hospitals.
Contact Alert Ambulance Services Inc. for help in your emergency.