Communications is big part of the EMS system. In fact, the 911 system that most people take for granted was literally designed to meet the needs of the EMS community. As an EMS provider, you will most likely to communicate with dispatch, other EMS units, the Fire Department, the hospital, and medical control. Methods of communications include verbal, verbal via radio, and written.

A transfer of patient care is generally preceded by a verbal report. The same report is given to the nurse at the hospital by the EMT. The EMR gives a similar report to the ambulance crew as they arrive. A verbal report typically consists of the following:

1. Patient condition
2. Patient age and sex
3. Chief complaint
4. History of the complaint
5. How the patient was found
6. Past Medical History
7. Vital Signs
8. Pertinent finding of the medical exam
9. Emergency care provided until the time of transfer.

Nobody really cares what EMS does between calls as long as it isn’t obviously counter productive or illegal. What the public should expect out of EMS is outstanding leadership with the goal of excellent patient care for about 15 minutes to an hour at at time. A sense of personal responsibility (similar to the responsibility of having a child or a pet) for the patients’ outcome is what sets the EMS provider apart from law enforcement, the fire department, or other responders. EMS is about focusing on the human component of an emergency in a world where nobody else is capable of even identifying the patient is having a problem in the first place.