The Delivery Of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) In Disasters: Recommendations From Field Studies

Using some of its earlier work as an initial base for developing a research design, the Disaster Research Center in 1975 began a systemic and comparative study of the delivery of emergency medical services (EMS) in relatively large-scale, sudden mass casualty-producing situations in the United States. For comparative purposes, more limited studies on preplanned events with high mass caualty potentials and on the disaster EMS planning and everyday operations in some disaster-prone communities were also undertaken. This paper advances a series of recommendations regarding the policies, planning, practices and research implementations involved in the delivery of EMS in disasters, which were derived from the 28 month study.National Center for Health Service Research, Health Resources Administration, Department of Health, Education and Welfare