Potentials of the U. S. Public Health Service programs in accident prevention and emergency medical services have not been fully exploited. Data are lacking on which to determine the number of individuals whose lives are lost or injuries are compounded by misguided attempts at rescue or first aid, absence of physicians at the scene of injury, unsuitable ambulances with inadequate equipment and untrained attendants, lack of traffic control, or the lack of voice communication facilities. Helicopter ambulances have not been adapted to civilian peace- time needs. Emergency departments of hospitals are overcrowded, some are archaic, and there are no systematic surveys on which to base requirements for space, equipment, or staffing for present, let alone future, needs. Fundamental research in shock and trauma is inadequately supported.
Specific recommendations follow discussions of the various levels of emergency care.
The public must be aroused and full, informed of present practices, shortcomings in emergency services, and wave in which optimal care can be assured. Establishment of a 'national Trauma Association Responsible professional and lay organizations should pool their efforts through a voluntary National Trauma Association as a means of stimulating public demand for accident prevention and emergency medical services and satisfying these needs through research, public and professional education, and community services. In each community, coordination of lay and professional responsi- bilities for emergency medical care should be centralized in a council on emergency services. Councils could serve as active units to implement measures and to share in the contributions and benefits of nationwide programs of a National Trauma Associ- ation and other voluntary health and allied agencies devoted to emergency medical services. This report is concerned primarily with emergency care indicated after receipt of an injury and deals only briefly with problems of accident prevention.