Emergency Medical Services - Report Example

ROLES OF EMS, DIFFERENCES, AND SIMILARITIES BETWEEN USA AND INDIA by Student’s Name Code + Name of Course Professor Date Introduction Emergency Medical Services play an important role in disaster management as they provide effective, responsible pre-hospital casualty care, prevent further acute or life-threatening illness, and aid in resolution of the event medical response. It is an intricate system, and every aspect of this system has an important role to perform as part of a seamless and coordinated system of emergency medical care (Olive et al 2005). An effective emergency medical services system consists of components, such as organizations and agencies (both public and private), transportation and communication networks, hospitals, trauma systems and centers, specialty care centers, highly trained professionals, rehabilitation facilities and an informed public that is aware of the role of medical emergency (Dave, Shakti, Parmar & Sunil 2001). Highly trained professionals comprise of physicians, therapists, nurses, career, and volunteer prehospital personnel, administrators and government officials. These EMS system components are usually different for every country, and this determines their effectiveness. The effectiveness of EMS determines the quality of care. The United States EMS system plays an important role in providing treatment for all persons in need of urgent medical care. In India, the EMS system is fragmented, and this limits its effectiveness. In order for the EMS system to play an important role in the case of disasters, they need to be upgraded to turn into the backbone of medical responses. This is important as the effectiveness of the US and India EMS system determines the quality of care. Role of Emergency Medical Services The EMS is charged with providing emergency lifesaving care to seriously injured or ill persons in need of urgent medical care. They treat the current illness while planning for advanced intervention. Upon arrival at the scene, they offer first aid in order to ease pain as plans are made of transferring the patient to a medical institution. The aid goes on during transportation while trying to stabilize the condition. EMS did not treat the patient during transportation in the past, their role then was just taking the patient to the hospital. With time, EMS services have improved to encompass immediate aid at the scene and during transportation until reaching a medical facility. They ensure timely delivery of the patient to proper medical attention (Dave et al. 2001). EMS transport patients to emergency rooms of local hospitals- or ensure timely transportation of the injured person to the next point of definitive care. EMS ensures that a critically ill patient moves freely. This helps the critical patient who is immobile to access the necessary care from specialists, especially intensive care required (HRSA n.d). After initial specialized care provision, the EMS ensures the patient is transported to a local facility or home care after regaining their health. Similarly, they move the patient if he or she does not require the specialized care. In other cases, the practitioners in the institution take the responsibility of transferring the patient to another care facility. The EMS is not called upon. The emergency medical service also aims at treating some conditions successfully. Sometimes the emergent conditions are curable at the EMS care providence. Some illnesses can be treated successfully without the need to transport the patient to a medical facility. This is capable because numerous EMS systems’ professionals have the necessary care requirements. Some have first aid specialists whereas others have paramedics, physicians, and/or nurses. These are trained and qualified specialists with knowledge of treating various illnesses. With this equipment, the EMS does not necessarily need to transport the cases it can handle on the ground. In addition, EMS provides technical help in cases like rescue operations including extrication, fire and water rescue among others. This implies that EMS systems have trained workforce to handle such technical operations. They have trained swimmers to help a drowning person; a specialist who should as well possess first aid and basic life skills among others to complete the rescue operation successfully. They operate quick response vehicles and ambulance to support these services. Last, EMS systems provide various educational programs to the public on numerous safety issues. The programs educate on prevention of illness as well as injury, modification of risk, community as well as public health, and treatment of terminal illnesses. Their education is quality and it connects the EMS specialists and the public’s education system. The programs help to reduce the emergency cases because the public is equipped with proper knowledge of preventing and handling emergencies when they arise, especially in areas where transportation is a problem. Similarities of US and India Emergency Medical Services EMS systems in India and USA provide similar services. They offer rescue as well as evacuation services. These include rescues during fire, road, and water accidents; these are the major kinds of emergencies. EMS systems in the two nations offer ambulance services, which transport the victims or patients from the scene to medical facilities where they receive advanced care. The ambulances are equipped with emergency handling devices, which assist in first care and immediate response at the scene and during transportation (Razzak & Kellermann 2002). Their services are offered to anyone in need with most of the EMS systems being non-governmental in both countries. The transportation services are safe and reliable. In the two nations, the medical personnel go through proper training as well as continuing education program. They are trained on first aid services, which each personnel ought to possess because it is the first help the victim receives before advanced treatment. Other personnel are hired depending on their professional qualifications, such as nurses and physicians who have gone through the normal training schedule. The EMS systems in the two nations train paramedics as well as technical support teams. They staff adequately because two emergencies can occur simultaneously thereby prompting the use of different groups to handle the concurrent incidences. The ambulances are staffed with a minimum of two personnel. The staffing depends on a particular system based on their policies. Both USA and Indian EMS systems follow the model of care (service delivery) of bringing the patient to the hospital instead of taking the hospital to where the patient is. The ambulances transport the patient from the scene to the nearby hospital where necessary medical intervention is provided. Notably, the services offered by EMS systems in the two countries are free, especially first aid and rescues. This is following the governments’ advocating for the provision of primary role of EMS to all citizens without payment. Differences between US and India Emergency Medical Services The emergency medical services in both US and India have some distinctive differences that can be classified in terms of ordination, origin of funding, management, and channeling, flow of information and efficacy (Zachariah & Pepe 1995). Some typical features can emphatically analyze and show the major divergence of emergency medical services in these two countries. Concerning control authority and the concerned regulating bodies of the EMS in these two countries, it is noted that the regulation of EMS in the US is the function and mandate of the federal government. The federal government defines and delimits the measures that every US EMS suppliers must adhere to. In the US, distinctive state governments that necessitate maximum measures in all the rendered services stringently control EMS. On the other hand, in India, control of EMS provision to the citizens is circumscribed because of atomization of supply of emergency medical services. India’s EMS has also compromised and made complicated by the uncontrolled enlargement of the individual owned infirmaries (Miller, Alagappan, Pai, Theresa, Deepa & Arjun 2001). This has resulted further into lawlessness dictating of charges by the privately owned EMS providing institutions. Although many of the public owned EMS organization in India are funded externally, they lack adequate resources including the staff and the relevant equipment to handle emergencies. This has resulted in unprofessionalism and this has opted many of the EMS seekers to turn to private EMS organizations who offer quality services. Regarding centralization and management of EMS in the two countries, a clear difference in operation and rendering of emergency medical services between these two countries is seen clearly. In the US, the EMS either is rendered by the government institutions or are privately run by individual institutions. Most of the publicly operated EMS are managed and run by the municipality. The local government itself does dispensation of services (Austin 1989). However, focusing on management of EMS in India a well-defined deviation is seen. In India, most of the EMSs are put up by privately owned organizations (Miller, et al. 2001). This started happening rampantly when the India Judiciary delegated the rendering of EMS by any hospitals including both the public and the private hospitals despite the casualty’s ability to make payment as well as the medico-legal condition in times of the emergencies. This resulted in rise in number of private hospitals providing EMS in India unlike in the US. Revolving around the source of funding of these EMS providing organization in both US and India another concise and clear discrepancy is portrayed. In US both the government and the other relevant bodies that run the Emergency medical services provide resources and monetary funding to run EMS providing organization. EMS provisional in US is also founded on variety of prototypes. Although many of the services rendered are to a large extent government funded, the state in which they are operated is what makes the services offered differ. Service charges and appurtenance usually fund the EMS providing organization, which are run by the municipal run using the resource taxes. It is important to note that in the US the community or other individual providers may run the EMS structures. The sources of financial for these two latter EMS systems are the community and the individuals owning them respectively. There are circumstances where the EMS unit cannot fully run on itself and therefore its operated by volunteer staff and funding is done by donations and fundraising. In India, despite the government providing both the resource and the financial help to EMS providing hospitals and institutions, donors and the individuals of the many privately owned EMS organizations do most of funding (Miller, et al. 2001). Regarding the general flow of information in the EMS provision in the two countries, a large difference is also seen to exhibit. Entailing on the casualty call emergency number it is noted that the US EMS provision team uses emergency number 911. During emergencies therefore, communication is channeled through the call line countrywide. On the contrary, in India, different casualty call emergency numbers are provided. During emergencies in India, people are advised to call number 102 in areas of the country. Infirmaries in addition give more different call numbers for ambulance services. This therefore shows that prompt, adequate, and right emergency medical services cannot be found at any area around the country. This is because different numbers are used in different emergency response stations in various parts of the country and therefore callers will only expect response from the team present in the nearby area. Moving on to potency in delivery of EMS in both the US and India focus is made regarding the control, management and operational procedures. Regulation of EMS in the US is the function and mandate of the federal government and the private state governments. This makes the EMS in the US more valuable in provisional of emergency medical services since all the operations are centralized and run from a common and one unit, the government (Zachariah & Pepe 1995). Efficiency therefore becomes the crucial factor because emergency medical services require special attention and prompt response. Unlike in India the emergency services scheme is disunited making it complex and inefficient in rendering the suitable immediate and high quality services to the people of the India. Fragmentation of EMS in India does not only make it complex but it also provides room for mismanagement. Poor management of most public EMS facilities in India results to poor staffing as well as inadequate emergency response equipments. This lowers the standards and efficiency of EMS in India as compared to the US. In India, there is no unanimity on the functional side of the hospitals (Garg 2012). Many institutions recognize the casualty strategy. It is also necessary to know that due to deficiency of consistent call lines in India across the whole country as well as poor training among the people about the being call numbers renders difficultness during emergency situations that require immediate response. This is what makes most of the EMS in India to be less efficient compared to the US emergency medical services. Poorly trained workforce in ambulances also promotes inefficiency in delivering quality EMS. Conclusion Emergency medical services play an important role in providing treatment to persons in need of urgent medical care. The effectiveness of EMS determines the quality of care. The Indian and the US systems are similar in various manners. They provide emergency medical care to all the individuals who need it. They both provide reliable and safe ambulance transportation. The medical personnel undergo appropriate training as well as continuing education program. The ambulances are staffed with a minimum of two personnel. The two follow the model of care (service delivery) of bringing the patient to the hospital instead of taking the hospital to the patient. On the contrary, in the US, the EMS are regulated by the federal government which sets the minimum standard that all the providers have to meet and it is strictly regulated by individual state governments. In India, there is limited government regulation due to fragmentation of provision of emergency services. US EMS System are either publicly or privately operated. The funds for running are provided by the government or the private bodies that run the EMS. In India, majority of the EMS are provided by private organizations. In the US, there is only one emergency number (911) whereas in India there are difference emergency numbers, 102 is used in parts of the country. Hospital also offer different numbers for the ambulance services and this means that proper emergency services cannot be accessed from anywhere in the country. The emergency services system in India is fragmented. In the US, the federal governments and individual state governments centrally control the EMS and hence more effective in provision of emergency services. The US has a better EMS system than that of India. India requires a better emergency system like that of the United System. Reference List 1. Austin, R, Colohan, T, Wayne, M Cynthia, R, James, C, Torner, V, Mehta, P, Tandon, D & John, A 1989, ‘Head injury mortality in two centers with different emergency Medical services and intensive care’, Journal of Neurosurgery, vol. 71, no. 2, pp. 202-207 http://thejns.org/doi/abs/10.3171/jns.1989.71.2.0202?journalCode=jns 2. Dave, PK., Shakti, G., Parmar, NK & Sunil, K 2001, Emergency Medical Services and Disaster Management: A Holistic Approach, Jaypee Brothers. http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=tW7UwYG2sLQC&oi=fnd&pg=PA244&dq=EMS+in+USA+India&ots=oAn3je2ulY&sig=krdFwJIyXuDEAxgN-0LLhl4y1bk#v=onepage&q=EMS%20in%20USA%20India&f=false 3. Garg, R 2012, ‘Who killed Rambhor? The state of emergency medical services in India’, J Emerg Trauma Shock, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 49-54. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC329915 4. HRSA n.d., Available at: http://www.hrsa.gov/ems/ 5. Miller, I., Alagappan, K., Pai, M., Theresa, M., Deepa, D & Arjun, R 2001, ‘Recognizing Emergency Medicine in India’, The Medical Journal of India, vol. 14, no.5, pp. 297-300 http://www.nmji.in/archives/Volume-14/issue-5/medicine-and-society.pdf 6. Olive, C, Hyder, A, Bishai, D, Romero, E, Mock, C & Joshipura, M 2005, ‘Emergency Medical System in Low- And Middle- Income Countries: Recommendations for Action’, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, vol. 83, pp. 626- 631. 7. Razzak, J & Kellermann, A 2002, ‘Emergency Medical Care in Developing Countries: Is It Worthwhile’, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, vol. 80, pp. 900-905. 8. Zachariah, B. S & Pepe, P 1995, ‘The development of emergency medical dispatch in the USA: a historical perspective’, European Journal of Emergency Medicine http://journals.lww.com/euro-emergencymed/Abstract/1995/09000/The_development_of_emergency_medical_dispatch_in.2.aspx Read More