NEMSIS 2021 Public Dataset Now Available for Research
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New Guide Offers Body-Worn Camera Legal Considerations for EMS Agencies
Although body-worn cameras aren’t yet widely used in EMS, interest is growing and organizations that have employed them have seen significant benefits – and some limitations.
To help guide agencies, the National Emergency Medical Services Information System Technical Assistance Center (NEMSIS TAC), in cooperation with the legal firm Page, Wolfberg & Wirth, has released the EMS Body-worn Camera Quickstart Guide: Legal Considerations for EMS Agencies. The guide provides an overview of general legal issues for EMS agencies thinking about using body-worn cameras.
An overview of these key legal considerations for EMS agencies are covered in the new document:
Every EMS agency considering the use of body-worn cameras must evaluate not just legal issues but financial considerations, public perception, impact on staff, potential union bargaining and more.
From NEMSIS on May 28, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Salt Lake City, Utah, May 11, 2021 – The National Emergency Medical Services Information System Technical
Assistance Center (NEMSIS TAC) today announced the availability of the 2020 Public-Release Research Dataset,
the largest publicly available dataset of emergency medical service activations in the United States. With this
release, NEMSIS aims to improve understanding of, confidence in, and support for EMS data collection and
analysis that will lead to data being utilized more effectively to improve patient care.
“The 2020 dataset is a powerful asset for researchers looking into all manner of conditions that affect different
aspects of EMS service.,” said Dr. N. Clay Mann, Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of
Utah School of Medicine and Principal Investigator for the NEMSIS Technical Assistance Center. “Hopefully, the
information gathered during the COVID-19 pandemic will help give EMS agencies valuable insight on their work
improving EMS services under all sorts of conditions.”
The 2020 Public-Release Research Dataset is a subset of the National EMS Database that is the repository for
EMS data collected from U.S. States and Territories. NEMSIS maintains the national standard for how patient
care information resulting from an emergency 9-1-1 call for medical assistance is collected. The dataset includes
43,488,767 EMS activations submitted by 12,319 EMS agencies servicing 50 states and territories.
Those interested in requesting a copy of the 2020 Public-Release Research Dataset can contact the NEMSIS TAC
and fill out a request form at their website https://nemsis.org/using-ems-data/request-research-data. A
password-protected USB drive containing the dataset, the 2020 NEMSIS Data User Manual, NEMSIS Data
Dictionary v3.4.0, Extended Data Definitions v3.4.0, and sample SAS code file will be sent via postal service.
The National Emergency Medical Services Information System (NEMSIS) is the national health information
exchange and database used to collect and store EMS data from states and territories. NEMSIS is a universal
standard for how patient care information resulting from an emergency 9-1-1 call for medical assistance is
collected. It is a collaborative system to improve patient care through the standardization, aggregation, and
utilization of point-of-care EMS data at a local, state, and national level.
NEMSIS is a program of NHTSA’s Office of EMS and is hosted at the University of Utah.