Analysis Of The EMS White Paper

The “EMS White Paper” was published in 1966. It completely changed the way we view and manage injuries in the United States, the paper was published by the National Academy of Sciences. This paper came about because of the substandard care that was being given during emergencies in the early sixties.
The EMS White Paper stated that there were “52,000,000 accidental injuries in 1965. Out of those injuries 107,000 of them resulted in death, 400,000 permanently impaired, and 10,000,000+ were disabled”. It also stated that “millions lack instruction in basic first aid”. This included firemen, police officers, and even ambulance workers. Because of these problems the paper said that there was a need to create government agencies such as the American Heart Association to help teach basic and advanced first aid. The whole reason for such agencies was to prevent accidents. Preventing accidents would be able to drastically drop the death rate.

There was a dearth of on scene medical care. At the time all medical care would begin once the patient entered the emergency room. The EMS White paper stated a recommendation that all people above fifth grade get first aid training. The paper also said that there was “a need for a prompt voice communication”, this meant that those that were in the ER and those that were working the accident need to be able to communicate and give a heads up about things that are happening or things that might need to be done once the ambulance service arrives to the ER with the victim. It was also decided that there should be a universal number that is accessible on all telephones, this is where the number 9-1-1 came about to be dialed in case of