unicate with the hospital to inform the doctors and MICN's of the patient's status and to receive orders. For all levels of EMS personnel, the purpose of their existence is to attempt to improve or stabilize the condition of their patient.Those qualified EMS personnel working in the field are providing an invaluable level of treatment unheard of forty years ago. The advance of medicine since the beginning of civilized man has been slow progress. Although the level of care today is extremely more beneficial than the care of years past, it has taken hundreds of years to develop it. The Emergency Medical Services program has been in existence for only about thirty-five years. In those thirty-five years, an ambulance has progressed from a taxi, to an advanced life support facility able to sustain life. Helicopters have gone from an aviation experiment, to an invaluable method of transferring patients quickly from the scene of an emergency to a hospital. Advancements in pre-hospital patient care are endless. The use of external pacemakers is just now coming into use. For patients who have experienced massive blood loss, interosseous infusion, a new fluid replacement method, adds volume through the bone marrow, instead of by needle. Thrombolytics, drugs that eliminate clots in a matter of minutes, that have been in use in hospitals for several years are now being considered for field use to minimize damage to the coronary arteries and heart. Additionally, there are plans to allow the use of more potent diuretics to reduce inter-cranial swelling, and blood substitutes to combat blood loss. (Bishop 3-7) Pre-hospital emergency medical care is an idea that has come of age and is still maturing. The existence of EMS personnel has saved, and will continue to save, many lives. Those who would have died several years ago from heart attacks in their homes are now easily surviving and living many more years that are healthful. Individuals, who may have...
