U.S. Department of Transportation printed on recycled paper

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Technology Transfer Series

Number 134 September 1996

EMS AGENDA FOR THE FUTURE

The Vision

Emergency medical services (EMS) of the future

will be community-based health management that is

fully integrated with the overall health care system. It

will have the ability to identify and modify illness and

injury risks, provide acute illness and injury care and

follow-up, and contribute to treatment of chronic

conditions and community health monitoring. This

new entity will be developed from redistribution of

existing health care resources and will be integrated

with other health care providers and public health

and public safety agencies. It will improve community

health and result in more appropriate use of acute

health care resources. EMS will remain the public’s

emergency medical safety net.

During the past 30 years, emergency medical services

in the United States have grown exponentially. Yet,

initiatives to create a system to provide emergency

medical care for the nation’s population began with

limited knowledge about what constituted the most

efficient processes for delivering ideal resources to the

spectrum of situations encountered by contemporary

EMS providers.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

(NHTSA) and the Health Resources and Services

Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau

sponsored The EMS Agenda for the Future. This

document focuses on aspects of EMS related to

emergency care outside traditional health care

facilities.

The EMS Agenda provides an opportunity to

examine what has been learned during the past three

decades and create a vision for the future. This

opportunity comes at an important time, when those

agencies, organizations, and individuals who affect

EMS are evaluating their role in the context of a

rapidly evolving health care system.

To realize this vision, the EMS Agenda proposes

continued development of 14 EMS attributes, each of

which is a chapter in the report.

 1. Integration of health services

 2. EMS research

 3. Legislation and regulation

 4. System finance

 5. Human resources

 6. Medical direction

 7. Education systems

 8. Public education

 9. Prevention

10. Public access

11. Communication systems

12. Clinical care

13. Information systems

14. Evaluation

The EMS Agenda serves as a guide for EMS

providers, health care organizations and institutions,

government agencies, and policy makers. They must

be committed to ensuring that EMS efficiently

contributes to improving the health of their

communities. They will need to invest the necessary

resources to provide emergency health care that is

reliably accessible, effective, subject to continuous

evaluation, and integrated with the remainder of the

health system.

Copies of the EMS Agenda for the Future can be

obtained by writing to the Office of Enforcement and

Emergency Services, NHTSA, NTS-42, 400 Seventh

Street, S.W., Washington, DC, 20590 

or send a fax to (202) 366-7721.
U.S. Department 

of Transportation

National Highway 

Traffic Safety 

Administration

400 Seventh Street, S.W. NTS-33

Washington, DC 20590

TRAFFIC TECH is a publication to disseminate 

information about traffic safety programs, 

including evaluations, innovative programs, 

and new publications. Feel free to copy it as you wish. 

If you would like to receive a copy contact:

Linda Cosgrove, Ph.D., Editor, Evaluation Staff

Traffic Safety Programs

(202) 366-2759, fax (202) 366-7096

E-MAIL: lcosgrove@nhtsa.dot.gov