| Below is a table of some of the important events in the history of EMS. |
Year / Event
1865 America's first ambulance service is instituted by the U.S. Army.
1865 The first civilian ambulance service in the nation was being run by The Commercial Hospital of Cincinnati.
1869 America's first city ambulance service (utilizing horse drawn carriages) is instituted in New York City by Bellevue
Hospital.
1870 Prussian siege of Paris used hot air balloons to transported wounded soldiers. This was the first documented case
of aeromedical transportation.
1899 First motorized ambulance operated out of the Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago; reached a speed of 16 miles
per hour
1901 President McKinley shot in Buffalo and transported in a motorized ambulance
1910 First known air ambulance aircraft was built in North Carolina and tested in Florida. The aircraft failed after flying
only 400 yards and crashing.
1922 Committee on Treatment of Fractures formed
1926 Phoenix Fire Department begins "inhalator" calls.
1928 Julien Stanley Wise implemented the first rescue squad (Roanoke Life Saving Crew) in the nation in Roanoke, VA.
1931 Outline of Treatment of Injuries
1939 Committee on Fractures and Other Injures formed
1940 Prior to World War II, hospitals provided ambulance service in many large cities. With the severe manpower
shortages imposed by the war effort, it became difficult for many hospitals to maintain their ambulance operations. City
governments in many cases turned ambulance service over to the police or fire department. No laws required minimal
training for ambulance personnel and no training programs existed beyond basic first aid existed. In many fire
departments, assignment to ambulance duty became an unofficial form of punishment.
1951 Helicopters began to be used for medical evacuations during the Korea war.
1954 Survey of EMS systems performed by ACS/COT chairman Alan Dimick, MD; 64 cities, 5 years of data (1/4
excellent, 1/3 unacceptable)
1955 Saturday Evening Post article, "Let Those Crash Victims Lie-Ambulance Attendants are Trained to Handle Them,"
published
1956 Dr. Elan & Dr. Safar developed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
1957 Chicago Fire Department training program developed by "Deke" Farrington, MD
1959 Symposium on Medical Aspects of Traffic Safety formed
1959 Researchers at John's Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD developed the first portable defibrillator and perfected
CPR.
1960 "Management of Fractures and Soft Tissue" published by Committee on Trauma, American College of Surgeons
1960 Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) successful (Kouwenhoven)
1960 "CPR"-Journal of the American Medical Association article published by Jude
1960 Martin McMahon experimented with various types of artificial respiration by paralyzing Baltimore City firefighters
and seeing which method worked best.
1962 AMBU bag developed
1962 "Thumper," developed by Michigan Instruments
1962 "Resusci-Anne," developed by Laerdal
1965 Life Pack 33 developed
1966 "Accidental Death and Disability-The Neglected Disease of Modern Society" published by NRC-NAS
1966 Presidents Commission on Highway Safety formed
1966 Highway Safety Act enacted
1966 Dr. Pantridge in Belfast, Ireland, started to deliver pre-hospital coronary care using ambulances. His research
showed that his program significantly improved patient survivability in out of hospital cardiac events.
1966 In Pittsburgh, citizens demand an ambulance service to transport minority citizens. Freedom House Enterprises
took 44 unemployed 18-60 year old men and gave then 3,000 hours of medical training. The program was deemed a
success.
1967 "Death in a Ditch" published by "Deke" Farrington, MD
1967 Mobile Coronary Care Units developed by Pantridge
1967 Traction splint developed by Glenn Hare
1967 "Star of Life" patented by American Medical Association
1967 Jaws of Life developed by George Hurst
1968 On January 12, 1968 AT&T announces their designation of 911 as a universal emergency number at a press
conference in the Washington (DC) office of Indiana Rep. Ed Roush, who had championed for Congressional support
for "one number." AT&T's plan affected only the Bell companies, and not any of the independent telephone companies.
Up to this point, the number "911" wasn't mentioned in any literature, and apparently wasn't identified until the press
conference. In fact, a Wall Street Journal article written the day before the press conference didn't mention "911" as the
number that AT&T selected.
1969 Ohio Heart mobile developed
1969 Arlie House Conference formed
1969 American Medical Association Commission on EMS formed
1969 Helicopter used for civilian medical transportation
1969 EMT-A published by Dunlap and Associates
1969 The Miami FL Fire Department started the nation's first paramedic program under Dr. Eugene Nagel. The very first
out of hospital defibrillation occurred shortly thereafter (the patient survived and left the hospital neurologically intact). In
Seattle, Dr. Leonard Cobb at Harbor View Medical Center teams up with the Seattle Fire Department and creates Medic
I. Medic I is a Winnebago, (called "Mobi Pig" by the firefighters manning it), based at the hospital and is dispatched only
on cardiac related calls.
1970 National Registry of EMT's (NREMT) founded
1970 "Emergency!" with Johnny and Roy airs on TV
1972 The Department of Transportation and Department of Defense team up to form a helicopter evacuation service. In
Seattle, Medic II is instituted. Medic II is a program to train 100,000 citizens in CPR. Harbor View Medical Center starts up
the nation's most intensive training program for paramedics. The course is 5,000 hours long, compared to 3,600 hours
a medical student endures to become a doctor.
1973 Emergency Medical Services Act enacted
1975 National Association of EMT's (NAEMT) founded
1975 ACLS developed by American Heart Association
1978 ATLS pilot course developed in Auburn, Nebraska
1979 ATLS approved by ACS/COT
1979 Joint Review Committee for EMT-Paramedic accreditation formed
1981 Pre-hospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) approved by NAEMT and ACS/COT
1981 BTLS developed by Alabama Chapter of ACEP
1983 PHTLS pilot courses run in Iowa, Connecticut, and Louisiana
EMS grew exponentially after the early 1980s. So many people contributed so much that an attempt to list all of these
contributions would leave out many of the major players. This does not detract from all of the work done by each of
them. It only points out the growth of EMS in the United States and the world. A small example is all of those who made
possible the spread of PHTLS to 25 countries and greater than 300,000 providers trained by the year 2000 and a
similar spread of BTLS by its contributors.
1986 The Comprehensive Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) is passed by Congress. This affected transfers
of patients from ED to ED and prevented "dumping" (financially motivated transfers of patients).
1992 A public opinion survey conducted for the American College of Emergency Physicians found that nearly half of
adult Americans could not identify 9-1-1 as the emergency number, or confused it with 4-1-1, the directory assistance
number.
1995 Los Angeles City Fire Department institutes EMT Assessment & Paramedic Engine companies.
1996 New York City EMS is absorbed by FDNY.
1997 San Francisco and Chicago institute paramedic engine companies.
1999 President Clinton signs Senate Bill 800, which designates 911 as the nationwide emergency telephone number.
09-11-01 Terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, and Pentagon result in the largest peacetime EMS response in
history. Almost 3,000 people are killed in the attacks.
1865 America's first ambulance service is instituted by the U.S. Army.
1865 The first civilian ambulance service in the nation was being run by The Commercial Hospital of Cincinnati.
1869 America's first city ambulance service (utilizing horse drawn carriages) is instituted in New York City by Bellevue
Hospital.
1870 Prussian siege of Paris used hot air balloons to transported wounded soldiers. This was the first documented case
of aeromedical transportation.
1899 First motorized ambulance operated out of the Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago; reached a speed of 16 miles
per hour
1901 President McKinley shot in Buffalo and transported in a motorized ambulance
1910 First known air ambulance aircraft was built in North Carolina and tested in Florida. The aircraft failed after flying
only 400 yards and crashing.
1922 Committee on Treatment of Fractures formed
1926 Phoenix Fire Department begins "inhalator" calls.
1928 Julien Stanley Wise implemented the first rescue squad (Roanoke Life Saving Crew) in the nation in Roanoke, VA.
1931 Outline of Treatment of Injuries
1939 Committee on Fractures and Other Injures formed
1940 Prior to World War II, hospitals provided ambulance service in many large cities. With the severe manpower
shortages imposed by the war effort, it became difficult for many hospitals to maintain their ambulance operations. City
governments in many cases turned ambulance service over to the police or fire department. No laws required minimal
training for ambulance personnel and no training programs existed beyond basic first aid existed. In many fire
departments, assignment to ambulance duty became an unofficial form of punishment.
1951 Helicopters began to be used for medical evacuations during the Korea war.
1954 Survey of EMS systems performed by ACS/COT chairman Alan Dimick, MD; 64 cities, 5 years of data (1/4
excellent, 1/3 unacceptable)
1955 Saturday Evening Post article, "Let Those Crash Victims Lie-Ambulance Attendants are Trained to Handle Them,"
published
1956 Dr. Elan & Dr. Safar developed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
1957 Chicago Fire Department training program developed by "Deke" Farrington, MD
1959 Symposium on Medical Aspects of Traffic Safety formed
1959 Researchers at John's Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD developed the first portable defibrillator and perfected
CPR.
1960 "Management of Fractures and Soft Tissue" published by Committee on Trauma, American College of Surgeons
1960 Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) successful (Kouwenhoven)
1960 "CPR"-Journal of the American Medical Association article published by Jude
1960 Martin McMahon experimented with various types of artificial respiration by paralyzing Baltimore City firefighters
and seeing which method worked best.
1962 AMBU bag developed
1962 "Thumper," developed by Michigan Instruments
1962 "Resusci-Anne," developed by Laerdal
1965 Life Pack 33 developed
1966 "Accidental Death and Disability-The Neglected Disease of Modern Society" published by NRC-NAS
1966 Presidents Commission on Highway Safety formed
1966 Highway Safety Act enacted
1966 Dr. Pantridge in Belfast, Ireland, started to deliver pre-hospital coronary care using ambulances. His research
showed that his program significantly improved patient survivability in out of hospital cardiac events.
1966 In Pittsburgh, citizens demand an ambulance service to transport minority citizens. Freedom House Enterprises
took 44 unemployed 18-60 year old men and gave then 3,000 hours of medical training. The program was deemed a
success.
1967 "Death in a Ditch" published by "Deke" Farrington, MD
1967 Mobile Coronary Care Units developed by Pantridge
1967 Traction splint developed by Glenn Hare
1967 "Star of Life" patented by American Medical Association
1967 Jaws of Life developed by George Hurst
1968 On January 12, 1968 AT&T announces their designation of 911 as a universal emergency number at a press
conference in the Washington (DC) office of Indiana Rep. Ed Roush, who had championed for Congressional support
for "one number." AT&T's plan affected only the Bell companies, and not any of the independent telephone companies.
Up to this point, the number "911" wasn't mentioned in any literature, and apparently wasn't identified until the press
conference. In fact, a Wall Street Journal article written the day before the press conference didn't mention "911" as the
number that AT&T selected.
1969 Ohio Heart mobile developed
1969 Arlie House Conference formed
1969 American Medical Association Commission on EMS formed
1969 Helicopter used for civilian medical transportation
1969 EMT-A published by Dunlap and Associates
1969 The Miami FL Fire Department started the nation's first paramedic program under Dr. Eugene Nagel. The very first
out of hospital defibrillation occurred shortly thereafter (the patient survived and left the hospital neurologically intact). In
Seattle, Dr. Leonard Cobb at Harbor View Medical Center teams up with the Seattle Fire Department and creates Medic
I. Medic I is a Winnebago, (called "Mobi Pig" by the firefighters manning it), based at the hospital and is dispatched only
on cardiac related calls.
1970 National Registry of EMT's (NREMT) founded
1970 "Emergency!" with Johnny and Roy airs on TV
1972 The Department of Transportation and Department of Defense team up to form a helicopter evacuation service. In
Seattle, Medic II is instituted. Medic II is a program to train 100,000 citizens in CPR. Harbor View Medical Center starts up
the nation's most intensive training program for paramedics. The course is 5,000 hours long, compared to 3,600 hours
a medical student endures to become a doctor.
1973 Emergency Medical Services Act enacted
1975 National Association of EMT's (NAEMT) founded
1975 ACLS developed by American Heart Association
1978 ATLS pilot course developed in Auburn, Nebraska
1979 ATLS approved by ACS/COT
1979 Joint Review Committee for EMT-Paramedic accreditation formed
1981 Pre-hospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) approved by NAEMT and ACS/COT
1981 BTLS developed by Alabama Chapter of ACEP
1983 PHTLS pilot courses run in Iowa, Connecticut, and Louisiana
EMS grew exponentially after the early 1980s. So many people contributed so much that an attempt to list all of these
contributions would leave out many of the major players. This does not detract from all of the work done by each of
them. It only points out the growth of EMS in the United States and the world. A small example is all of those who made
possible the spread of PHTLS to 25 countries and greater than 300,000 providers trained by the year 2000 and a
similar spread of BTLS by its contributors.
1986 The Comprehensive Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) is passed by Congress. This affected transfers
of patients from ED to ED and prevented "dumping" (financially motivated transfers of patients).
1992 A public opinion survey conducted for the American College of Emergency Physicians found that nearly half of
adult Americans could not identify 9-1-1 as the emergency number, or confused it with 4-1-1, the directory assistance
number.
1995 Los Angeles City Fire Department institutes EMT Assessment & Paramedic Engine companies.
1996 New York City EMS is absorbed by FDNY.
1997 San Francisco and Chicago institute paramedic engine companies.
1999 President Clinton signs Senate Bill 800, which designates 911 as the nationwide emergency telephone number.
09-11-01 Terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, and Pentagon result in the largest peacetime EMS response in
history. Almost 3,000 people are killed in the attacks.