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Emergency Medical Services

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Emergency medical services (EMS) teams often provide out-of-hospital acute medical care and transport, and emergency room (ER) staff treat acutely ill or injured individuals in hospital settings. To maximize EMS and ER effectiveness and availability, RAND research provides policymakers with critical information, analyses, and recommendations on the coordination, communication, performance, protection, and training of these public health professionals.

Report
Strategies for Improving Prehospital Outcomes for Cardiac Arrest
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a common, life-threatening event that is a leading cause of death in the United States. RAND researchers identified 49 strategies to improve OHCA survival and the delivery of care.
Jul 20, 2022
Commentary
Will the New 988 Hotline Be a Game Changer for Mental Health or a Missed Opportunity?
Someone dies from suicide in the United States every 11 minutes, a rate that has increased almost 30 percent since 2000. The 988 mental health hotline will launch on July 16, but states need to clear significant hurdles: funding the expanded crisis response system and making sure people know it's available.
Jun 20, 2022

Explore Emergency Medical Services

Research Brief
Why Are Many Emergency Departments in the United States Closing?
Between 1990 and 2009, the number of emergency rooms (ERs) in nonrural U.S. hospitals declined by 27 percent (from 2,446 to 1,779). Economic factors play a central role in an ER's ability to remain open.
Sep 9, 2011
Journal Article
Achieving Public Health Legal Preparedness: How Dissonant Views on Public Health Law Threaten Emergency Preparedness and Response
Organizational culture differences between public health and emergency management entities may hinder inter-agency collaboration.
Sep 1, 2011
Journal Article
Why Clinicians Use or Don't Use Health Information Exchange
The ED is one important place where an HIE may have an impact on patient care because many emergency patients are unfamiliar to ED facilities and important clinical information is often missing.
Jul 1, 2011
Journal Article
Factors Associated with Closures of Emergency Departments in the United States
This study found that the number of emergency departments operating in the US from 1990 to 2009 declined by 27%. EDs with safety-net status, for-profit ownership, and low profit margin were at higher risk of closure.
May 18, 2011
Report
Complex trauma research in the UK: A rapid review of the funding landscape
This documented briefing presents the results of a rapid review of the funding landscape for complex trauma research in the UK. Recommendations are made about how to strengthen this niche and orphan area of research.
Apr 18, 2011
Report
Building Community Resilience to Disasters
Communities can build resilience to disasters through efforts such as joint planning of government and non-governmental organizations and the development of community networks.
Feb 22, 2011
Research Brief
Building Community Resilience to Disasters: A Roadmap to Guide Local Planning
Examines ways in which communities can improve their ability to withstand and recover from adversity.
Feb 22, 2011
Journal Article
Using Geographic Information Systems to Match Local Health Needs with Public Health Services and Programs
Large local health departments could better inform planning and investments by using geographic information systems to align community needs and health outcomes with public health programs.
Jan 1, 2011
Journal Article
Factors Associated with Prolonged Emergency Department Length of Stay for Admitted Children
Children admitted to the hospital seem more likely to have a prolonged stay in the emergency department if they are Hispanic, come to the ED in the winter, and arrive early in the morning.
Jan 1, 2011
Journal Article
The ER, 50 Years on
The quickest way to assess the strength of a community's hospital systems is to spend a few hours in the emergency department.
Jan 1, 2011
Journal Article
Developing National Standards for Public Health Emergency Preparedness with a Limited Evidence Base
National performance standards for public health preparedness can be developed based on existing evidence, but would be helped immensely by a stronger evidence base.
Dec 1, 2010
Research Brief
Where Do Americans Get Acute Care? Not at Their Doctor's Office
Less than half of acute care visits in the United States involve a patient's personal physician. Emergency physicians, who comprise only 4 percent of doctors, handle 28 percent of all acute care encounters and nearly all after-hours and weekend care.
Sep 2, 2010
Journal Article
Emergency Department Care in the United States: A Profile of National Data Sources
Analysts seeking to examine patterns of emergency department care must choose among the available datasets, bearing in mind the strengths and weaknesses of each source when conclusions based on the estimates it yields.
Aug 1, 2010
Journal Article
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Working Group on Emergency Department Management of Acute Heart Failure: Research Challenges and Opportunities
This paper presents research recommendations from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Working Group on emergency department management of acute heart failure.
Jul 1, 2010
Journal Article
Emergency Department Chief Complaint and Diagnosis Data to Detect Influenza-Like Illness with an Electronic Medical Record
Compared with detection based on the presenting patient's chief complaint, data from an emergency room diagnosis can provide valuable information about influenza-like illness despite a potential delay in detection.
Jan 1, 2010
Journal Article
Psychological Effects of Patient Surge in Large-Scale Emergencies: A Quality Improvement Tool for Hospital and Clinic Capacity Planning and Response
A novel and practical quality improvement tool can help hospitals and clinics plan for and respond to the psychological consequences of catastrophic events that create a surge of psychological casualties presenting for health care.
Jan 1, 2010
Journal Article
Integrating Expected Coverage and Local Reliability for Emergency Medical Services Location Problems
The authors introduce the LR-MEXCLP, a hybrid model combining the local vehicle busyness estimates of MALP (Maximum Availability Location Problem) with the maximum coverage objective of the MEXCLP (Maximum Expected Covering Location Problem) model.
Jan 1, 2010
Journal Article
Disaster Recovery Also Involves Human Recovery
This commentary argues that unless the U.S. examines and plans for the psychological consequences of disasters such as Katrina and the recent oil spill, communities will be struggling to address acute and chronic health issues while trying to rebuild.
Jan 1, 2010
Journal Article
The Longitudinal Study of Turnover and the Cost of Turnover in EMS
Annual rates of employee turnover and costs associated with turnover vary widely across types of emergency medical services (EMS) agencies.
Jan 1, 2010
Journal Article
Federal Initiative Increases Community Preparedness for Public Health Emergencies
This article describes an evaluation of the Cities Readiness Initiative, a federal program to improve communities' ability to dispense medications rapidly during emergencies.
Jan 1, 2010

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RAND Topic:
Emergency Medical Services

Topic Synonyms:
Emergency Medicine;
EMS

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