Chapter 1 American EMT Vocab

A system of internal and external reviews and audits of all aspects of an EMS system aimed at improving outcomes.

Continuous quality improvement

The delivery of medication directly into a vein.

Intravenous Therapy

A document created by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that outlines the skills performed by various EMS providers.

National EMS Scope of Practice Model

A trained professional, such as police officer, firefighter, lifeguard, or other rescuer, who may arrive first at the scene of an emergency to provide initial medical assistance.

Emergency Medical Responder (EMR)

An individual who has training in specific aspects of advanced life support, such as intravenous therapy, and the administration of certain emergency medications.

Advanced EMT (AEMT)

An individual who has training in basic life support, including automated external defibrillation, use of a definitive airway adjunct, and assisting patients with certain medications.

Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)

Advanced life-saving procedures, some of which are now being provided by the EMT.

Advanced Life Support

The designated area in which the EMS agency is responsible for the provision of prehospital emergency care and transportation to the hospital.

Primary Service Area

Physician instructions given directly by radio or cell phone (online/direct) or indirectly by protocol/guidelines (off-line/indirect), as authorized by the medical director of the service program.

Medical Control

The process whereby a competent authority, usually the state, allows people to perform a regulated act.

Licensure

The physician who authorizes or delegates to the EMT the authority to provide medical care in the field.

Medical Director

A process in which a person, an institution, or a program is evaluated and recognized as meeting certain predetermined standards to provide safe and ethical care.

Certification

Oversight by the medical director to ensure the appropriate medical care standards are met by EMTs on each call.

Quality Control

Comprehensive legislation that is designed to protect people with disabilities against discrimination.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

An approach to medicine where decisions are based on well-conducted research, classifying recommendations based on the strength of the scientific evidence; also called science-based medicine.

Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM)

A call center, staffed by trained personnel who are responsible for managing requests for police, fire, and ambulance services.

Public Safety Access Point

A method of delivering health care that involves providing health care within the community rather than at a physician’s office or hospital.

Mobile Integrated Healthcare

A system that assists dispatchers in selecting appropriate units to respond to a particular call for assistance and provides callers with vital instructions until the arrival of EMS crews.

Emergency Medical Dispatch

An individual who has extensive training in advanced life support, including endotracheal intubation, emergency pharmacology, cardiac monitoring, and other advanced assessment and treatment skills.

Paramedic

A device that detects treatable life-threatening cardiac dysrhythmias (ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia) and delivers the appropriate electrical shock to the patient.

Automated External Defibrilator (AED)

A multidisciplinary system that represents the combined efforts of several professionals and agencies to provide prehospital emergency care to the sick and injured.

Emergency Medical Services (EMS)