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Emergency Medical Services (EMS) include that system of services organized to provide rapid response to serious medical emergencies, including immediate medical care and patient transport to definitive care in an appropriate hospital setting. An effective EMS System involves a variety of agencies and organizations working together to accomplish the goal of providing rapid emergency medical response and treatment. While most EMS responses are day-to-day emergencies, EMS agencies also plan and prepare for disaster medical response. In addition, EMS is becoming more and more involved with preventative health care and managed care in the overall scope of its functions - a true partner in the dynamic environment of health and medical treatment of our citizens. EMS includes:
- Public safety dispatch
- Fire services first response and treatment
- Private ground and air ambulance response, treatment and transport
- Law enforcement agencies
- Hospitals and specialty care centers
- Training institutions and programs for EMS personnel
- Managed care organizations
- Preventative health care
- Citizen and medical advisory groups
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| In Kern County the Board of Supervisors designated the EMS Department as the Local EMS Agency. The Kern County Ambulance Ordinance, which governs the majority of the prehospital system in the County, was adopted by the Board of Supervisors in November 1990, and became effective on February 28, 1991. As a result of this ordinance and the subsequent regulations, the EMS System in Kern County became more structured and included, for the first time, measurable standards for the response of paramedic level of care to the citizens of Kern County during an emergency.
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| The principal functions of all Local EMS Agencies in California are specified in the California Health and Safety Code.
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| Facilitate the delivery of quality emergency medical services through leadership, management, and coordination of the Kern County Emergency Medical Services System.
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| The EMS Department is the local agency responsible for: coordinating the emergency medical services (EMS) system in Kern County, continually enhancing and improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the system, and promoting a stable and progressive system environment, so the citizens of Kern County will receive the best possible emergency medical services.
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| A definition includes several diverse actions by many organizations, which include:
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- Call for Emergency Medical Assistance (9-1-1 System education; public information)
- Receipt of the Call (dispatch training; communications)
- Dispatch a Service Provider (dispatch system; ambulance provider operational areas; response times)
- Treatment on the Scene (medical direction and protocols)
- Transport of Patient (base hospital contract; hospital status system)
- Evaluation of System (data gathering; quality control and assurance; reports)
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The EMS Department provides for overall administration, direction and management of the Kern County EMS System which includes:
- Training and certification of over 5,960 EMS personnel
- Medical dispatch and communications
- Interaction with thirteen hospital emergency departments and specialty care centers
- Emergency medical data collection and analysis
- Promotion of public information and EMS System education
- Medical disaster preparedness, planning, response
- Trauma system management
- coordination of nineteen emergency medical transportation services and seven first-responder agencies
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| Authority for managing the EMS System in Kern County is derived from the California Health and Safety Code and the California Code of Regulations, and the Kern County Board of Supervisors.
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