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Ambulance Facts

Updated 2008

Vital U.S. Ambulance Statistics

  • Number of Ambulance Services – 15,276
  • Number of Ground Ambulance Vehicles – 48,384
  • Number of EMS Personnel – 840,669

Medics are First to Respond to the Health and Safety Needs of America’s Communities

  • Medics are employed by various types of services including private (for-profit and non-profit), hospital-based, volunteer, government-owned and fire department-based organizations. Over two-thirds of the nation’s largest 200 cities are served by non-fire-based ambulance services.
  • The emergency medical services (EMS) system assures a timely and medically appropriate response to each request for out-of-hospital care and medical transportation including emergency responses resulting from 9-1-1 calls and inter-facility transports.
  • Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) are trained to deliver basic life support (BLS) services and provide first aid, oxygen, splint and bandage application and CPR. Paramedics are trained to deliver advanced life support (ALS) services and provide intravenous therapy, airway management, cardiac monitoring and defibrillation, medications and other advanced care.
  • The EMS and ambulance service’s role during a natural disaster or public health emergency includes patient triage, decontamination, treatment, transport and disaster shelter staffing.

Key Trends

  • Many communities are served by high-performance emergency ambulance service providers with proven track records in simultaneously delivering clinical excellence, response-time reliability, economic efficiency and customer satisfaction.
  • As their key role was demonstrated during the 9/11 attacks, ambulance providers are operating at a heightened state of readiness and are working to build the necessary capacity to respond to new homeland security threats such as bio-terrorism attacks.
  • Ambulance providers face unique financial challenges due to inadequate Medicare payments and barriers to receiving federal homeland security funds.

More Information

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