Links to Emergency Medical Services

Auckland Ambulance Service, New Zealand They've even got paramedic motorcycles!
Helicopter EMS, London, England
CALSTAR - California Shock/Trauma Air Rescue
Molokai Emergency Medical Services, Hawaii
San Luis Ambulance Service, California
ProFlight Air Ambulance
Richmond Ambulance Authority, Virginia
State of California Emergency Medical Services Authority Comprehensive site!
Massachusetts EMS
Paramedics Australia
Staunton-Augusta Rescue Squad
San Diego Paramedics, California
Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital Local Paramedic Base Hospital serving Monterey County
Charlottesville - Albemarle Rescue Squad, Virginia
Rockhill Volunteer Rescue Squad, Virginia
Houston Rescue Squad
Rega Swiss Air-Ambulance
National Association of Private Ambulance Services, UK
Rescue One MedStar
Air Care Team - Orlando Regional Healthcare System
ProMedica Air / Mobile Transportation
FDNY Bureau of EMS Unofficial Home Page
Northland Ambulance Service New Zealand

EMT Sue's EMS Training Resources
Emanuel Weisgras, EMS, FDNY A long-time AOL friend of mine.
Alexa Candler & Mike Donnelly's Home PageEMT tests to take - and our kind of Humor!
The Paragod Home Page ...yup, that's what we call 'em!
Paragod's HUGE home on the WWW See what I mean? They ALL think of themselves this way!
Don Crisman's Home Page
Law/EMS Links of Ohio
The Paramedic Times
Doug's EMS Page
Chris's Fire and EMS Home Page
Todd's EMS Humor Page
Terri's Home PageA little bit of EMS stuff.
Warren J. Larson's Advanced EMTAD E.M.S. Page
jlhemt's Look at EMS and Other Stuff
Ted Snyder's EMS On-Line

Now, in case you're wondering "What does this person really know about EMS, anyway?" here's my history: In 1977, I started as a 9-1-1 dispatcher in a consolidated Law Enforcement/Fire Service/EMS PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point). We took the calls and directly dispatched the personnel and equipment to those same calls, providing communications service to 11 Law Enforcement agencies, 27 Fire Districts, and 9 ambulance providers, out of two Dispatch Centers. My earliest experience with medical calls was simply determining if someone needed an ambulance and sending out the appropriate agency. (You want one? You got one!) Back then, in Monterey County, firefighters were EMTs and EMTs responded in the ambulances. For the most part, the Fire Departments stabilized the patients and waited for the private ambulance to arrive. Some areas ran Red Cross ambulances staffed by fire personnel, either paid or volunteer "first-aiders."

For a couple of years, I worked part-time as an ambulance attendant after my own certification as an EMT. I discovered I can do the job, but I'm really MUCH better behind the scenes, not doing the "hands-on" work of treating people in the field. I have vivid memories of five specific calls I handled.....and as a result, I am in awe of those folks who care enough to be right there with people in pain and yet who go out again and again and do it all over yet again, the next time someone needs them. I would go home and worry about each and every patient I'd treated and transported. The five particular incidents out of all those I handled maybe weren't all that special to anyone else, but they pop up now and then from the recesses of my memory...and I didn't want to keep processing them or any more like them.

I need the distance from the incident provided by the telephone or radio. MY hands are no longer expected to alleviate pain and suffering; I do best coordinating the response of those talented field personnel. The best dispatchers don't get emotionally involved in the individual calls they handle; there are too many of them. (Thank god for Critical Incident Stress De-briefing!)

As I progressed up through the ranks to a supervisorial position, and as Paramedics began to be certified and utilized within the county, we attempted to develop and implement an EMD (Emergency Medical Dispatch) system, similar to that developed by Dr. Jeff Clawson in Salt Lake City, Utah. I was certified by Dr. Clawson in 1988 as an EMD-trainer, but the Board of Supervisors and the local EMS agency were extremely hesitant about instituting an EMD program. So, basically, we just asked more pertinant questions and relayed more information to the responders, but remained at "Level One" in the EMD hierarchy.

Since joining the CHP in 1992, I am no longer directly associated with EMS dispatching. In California, ALL calls to 9-1-1 from cellular phones are answered by the CHP. We take these calls and if EMS response is appropriate, those calls are transferred to the appropriate PSAP with jurisdiction for the particular medical emergency. If I didn't continue to maintain my contacts in EMS, I'd have no idea what was really going on in the field, and that would leave a great big hole in my understanding and appreciation for my peers in EMS/EMD.

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