Emergency Medical Services - Purpose

Purpose

Emergency medical services exists to fulfill the basic principles of first aid, which are to Preserve Life, Prevent Further Injury, and Promote Recovery.

This common theme in medicine is demonstrated by the "star of life". The Star of Life shown here, where each of the 'arms' to the star represent one of the 6 points. These 6 points are used to represent the six stages of high quality pre-hospital care, which are:

  1. Early detection
    Members of the public, or another agency, find the incident and understand the problem
  2. Early reporting
    The first persons on scene make a call to the emergency medical services and provide details to enable a response to be mounted
  3. Early response
    The first professional (EMS) rescuers arrive on scene as quickly as possible, enabling care to begin
  4. Good on-scene care
    The emergency medical service provides appropriate and timely interventions to treat the patient at the scene of the incident
  5. Care in transit
    the emergency medical service load the patient in to suitable transport and continue to provide appropriate medical care throughout the journey
  6. Transfer to definitive care
    the patient is handed over to an appropriate care setting, such as the emergency department at a hospital, in to the care of physicians

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