EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES

Emergency Medical Services



History of Emergency Medical Services

Introduction

In order to fully appreciate and comprehend the history of American Emergency Medical Services and medical transportation one needs to understand the nature of medicine, which existed around the globe in the 17th century, and the centuries which led to the creation of hospitals, patient transportation and pre-hospital emergent medical care.

Civilizations, across the ancient times, have been involved in developing their own culture of medical services, which was mostly derived from or in relation to the religious beliefs they had. Because of lack of documentation, one can barely find any evidence related to the movement of patients to patients or hospitals in the later times. The institutions known for taking the initiative of providing medical services to are recorded to the Egyptian temples in 400 B.C. The foremost known facilities which were devoted to admitting and treat injured or sick people were hospitals founded initially in 431 B.C, in Sri Lanka. These hospitals were known as Brahmanic hospitals (American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, 2010).

The Romans were the first to establish military medical facilities for treatment of gladiators, slaves and soldiers in 100 B.C. these medical facilities were known as valetudinarian and moved along with the movement of armies. Common citizens received treatment from physicians either at the doctor's designated offices or at home. In 1080, people belonging to a sect of monks, provided emigration from the battle field, restorative comfort and medical aid not only to crusading knights but also to the pilgrims. This method; however, not evidently documented in history, perhaps used conventional transportation of that time to extricate the people who got injured.

Discussion

Medical Transportation before the United States

Before the 17th century, a myriad of means were deployed to transfer the injured or sick people around the globe. In the region, which later became today's United States people used travois, which was basically a stretcher attached at one end to a dog or a horse to pull. In India, covered stretchers were for the same purpose. In Egypt panniers, which were camel stretchers, used to move the people disable of moving.

In the 15th century, the King and Queen of Spain deployed a mobile field hospital named ambulancia to provide medical aid to injured soldiers. These mobile hospitals were staffed with surgeons and physicians, while storing medical supplies simultaneously (Assaad, 2011).

The American Revolution

The development of the Emergency Medical Services is marked by the American Revolution. This revolution introduced two crucial elements of the Emergency Medical Services for the first time. Firstly, it was recognized by the Director Generals of Continental Army's Hospital Department that a rapid and extensive system of transportation of the people in need of medical aid is required at selected medical facilities. Secondly, hospitals were categorized as general or camp as a mean to sort patients according to the urgency and intensity of medical needs. However, despite the availability of a detailed design for infrastructure and instructions for operation from the Continental Congress, this medical care system remained in ...