The health sector is one of the important sectors that aggregates and integrates all the sectors within its systems like goods and services to treat patients with preventive, rehabilitative, curative, and palliative care. Modern healthcare includes the three main things that are important for the health economy, i.e., products, finance and service.
The health care industry is one of the fastest-growing and world’s largest industries. Health is one of the most important for all the economies around the globe and constitutes a major percentage of GDP.
EMT and EMS are the health services related to paramedics or ambulances.
EMT vs EMS
The difference between EMT and EMS is that EMT is a technician or professional. While EMS is the emergency services provided during the time of urgency or serious injury or illness of the patient. EMT is a part of the EMS. EMT means Emergency Medical Technician. While EMS means Emergency Medical services.EMTs are the professionals that are trained for emergencies. They are mainly found to be working in ambulances. While EMS are the pre-hospitalisation services also called as FAST Squad, Ambulance Squad etc.
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EMTs are health professional that is trained for emergencies. In most of the countries, they are found to be working in ambulances.
While in developed countries, there is a separate branch of paramedics. EMTs come under this branch where they are additional requirements, education, qualification and scope for it.
Commonly, EMTs are employed by municipal EMS agencies, governments, private ambulance services, hospitals, and fire departments. Some of the EMTs are paid while other works voluntarily.
EMTs follow a protocol while treating the patient as recommended by the physician.
EMS, also called paramedic services, are known for providing stabilisation and pre-hospitalization treatment to patients in an emergency, serious injury or illness. Their work is to transport them to the care of the hospitals in the ambulances.
EMS is called by various kinds of names, i.e., first aid squad, FAST squad, emergency squad, ambulance squad, ambulance corps, life squad etc. EMS can be called by the public by the contact number provided to them at the emergency.
Then control facility will dispatch their units according to the situation.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | EMT | EMS |
|---|---|---|
| Health coverage | Do not engage. | Wider coverage |
| Features | Only focus on basic life support. | Covers a range of life support. |
| Identification | Work in ambulances or private organisations. | Constitutes EMTs, & are owned by charity, police, fire ambulances etc. |
| Purpose | Respond to emergency calls, provide immediate care to the ill and injured. | Early detection, reporting, response, care, transfer etc. |
| Levels | EMR, AEMT, Paramedics. | First aid, BLS, ILS, ALS, CCT. |
What is EMT?
EMTs are health professionals that had to do a lot of work, and they are exposed to various health hazards like treating infectious diseases, handling hazardous substances, lifting the patients, equipment, and transportation via ground or air vehicles. Employers of the EMTs should provide them with the protective kit so that they can protect themselves as well as the patients.
Protective kits must include gloves, respirators, gowns, masks etc. there are four different levels of EMTs in some of the countries like Canada and the United States.
They are Emergency Medical Responder, Primary care Paramedics, Advanced care Paramedics, Critical care Paramedics. EMR are the paramedics who work on the ground i.,e.
Responding to the emergency calls and working on the ambulances. They are the first aid squad that is available to the public.
Primary care Paramedics are the basic type of medical care that are proficient in the treatment of emergencies like providing epinephrine, dextrose, glucagon, salbutamol, oxygen, ASA and nitroglycerine. Advanced care Paramedics are highly qualified professionals.
There demand in the health -sector is high. At times they perform 20 medications depending upon the region.
Critical care Provider works on the most critical and dangerous cases of the patients. They work on transferring the patients to the hospitals where ACP are available.
They work in collaboration with nurses, ACP, PCP, therapists etc. In different countries, there are various labels of care and practitioner. There is four major level of certification, i.e., EMR, EMT, AEMT and Paramedics.
The training of the EMTs differs from course to course and country to country. EMTs require classroom training of 100-300 hours.
They are required to spend their time in ambulances and various types of hospital services like surgery, intensive care unit, obstetrics, emergency medicine, psychiatry to complete the course get certifications and licences.
What is EMS?
EMS provide the treatment to the public if it’s urgent on the scene. If it becomes very necessary, then the patients are transferred to the next hospital nearby.
EMS can be called one of the moving units of an emergency department. In developing countries, EMS means ambulances that transfer the patients to hospitals.
But in the modern era and most of the developed countries, this term became popular when EMS started diagnosing and treating the patients on the spot. Training and qualification of the EMS differ in each region.
In some countries, members may be only qualified to drive the ambulances with no medical training. In some places, members know the basic first aid facilities.
In the European countries, members or personnel are trained in Advanced Life support and te professional paramedics and EMTs. Physicians and nurses can be considered as the member of EMS in some of the countries depending upon their qualification and training.
The first use of the EMS can be traced back to the time of Napolean era when a vehicle was specifically designed for carrying the wounded. Then the advanced version of the ambulance carrier came in 1832 in England when EMS was required to carry the patients with Cholera for treatment.
The first major ambulance service that was provided by the hospital came in the year 1865 in Commercial Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio. Then it spread to New York and London.
The motorised version of the ambulance came in 1899 when it was donated by the businessmen. Then ambulance service or EMS were widely used by the USA during World War 1&2 for carrying wounded soldiers.
In the 1960s more advanced version consisting of all the equipment of CPR, defibrillation was attached to it. EMS can be provided by various organisations like by Government ambulance Service, Charity ambulance Service, Fire or police ambulance service, Private or combine emergency services etc.
Main Differences Between EMT and EMS
- EMTs don’t involve or engage much in health awareness until they have been provided training and certifications. EMS is widely involved in health awareness, including life-threatening situations like fire, poisoning, transporting etc.
- EMTs only focus on basic life support (BLS). EMS covers a wide range of life support from first aid to advanced life support (ALS).
- EMTs mostly work in ambulances or private organisations. EMS constitutes EMTs and can be owned by charity, police, fire departments etc.
- The purpose of EMT is to respond to emergency calls, provide efficient and immediate care to the critically ill and injured. The purpose of EMS is to Early detection, reporting, response, field care, transfer etc.
- Levels of EMTs in certification include EMR, AEMT and Paramedics. Levels of care in EMS includes First aid, BLS, ILS, ALS, CCT.
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196064498703130
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10903120590924564
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Sandeep Bhandari holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computers from Thapar University (2006). He has 20 years of experience in the technology field. He has a keen interest in various technical fields, including database systems, computer networks, and programming. You can read more about him on his bio page.
