| A | B |
|---|
| direct medical direction | medical direction in which the physician speaks directly with EMT's in the field; also referred to as on-line medical direction |
| emergency medical dispatcher | an EMS dispatcher who has received special education for giving medical care instructions to patients or others over the phone before EMT's arrive |
| emergency medical services (EMS) system | many agencies, personnel and institutions involved in planning, providing, and monitoring emergency care |
| emergency medical technician (EMT) | the generic term for a prehospital emergency care provider educated at least to the EMT-Basic level |
| EMT-Basic | a basic prehospital life support provider trained to the NHTSA guidelines for EMT-Basic |
| EMT-Intermediate | an EMT with additional education. In one or more advanced techniques such as vascular access and intubation |
| EMT-paramedic | an EMT with additional education to the level of full advanced life support |
| first responder | an individual employed in a position that includes providing initial medical assistance in an emergency |
| indirect medical direction | any direction provided by physicians that is not direct, including system design, protocol development, education, and quality improvement; also referred as off-line medical direction |
| medical direction | the process (usually by a physician) of ensuring that the care EMT's provide to patients is medically appropiate; also called medical oversight |
| national EMS education and practice blueprint | a consensus document that establishes a core content for the scope of practice for the four levels of prehospital care providers |
| quality improvement | a system for continually evaluating and improving the care provided within an EMS system |
