ity under certain conditions, permitted local government to establish regulation, and provided penalties for violations (Law and Emergency Care, 51). Nineteen seventy-six brought the concerted effort by many organizations to begin development of educational standards, or Essentials, that would be used to evaluate programs seeking to provide EMT-Paramedic accreditation. Several drafts of the Essentials were proposed. After wide distribution to the appropriate medical communities of interest, the American Medical Association Council on Medical Education finally adopted the Essentials. The adoption in 1978 represented a collaboration of many organizations other than the AMA, including the American College of Emergency Physicians, and American College of Surgeons (EMS Programs, 45). The National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, in 1978, issued "A Code of Ethics for Emergency Medical Technicians.” Among other things, the code states, "The fundamental responsibility of the EMT is to conserve life, to alleviate sufferings, and to promote health." Although the code was established for the EMT, it also applies to the EMT-II and the EMT-Paramedic because their basic purpose is the same, even though they provide additional services (Department of Transportation, 1-10). A broad based coalition of groups responsible for the various aspects of pre-hospital care cooperated in 1980 to formally establish a permanent EMS system in California. The act allowed the appointment of local EMS agencies, divided by counties, to administer local EMS systems for establishing statewide standards for pre-hospital emergency medicine. It set up the training required for licensed personnel and the operation of EMS systems. These standards, in the form of additions to the health code, went officially into effect the beginning of 1981. The stated purpose for such legislation was to establish an EMS authority that would coordinate and integrate all stat...
