2018 EMS Trend Report: The Forces Shaping the Future of EMS

How the optimism divide between leaders and providers will shape EMS’ future
By Fitch & Associates
EMS professionals tend to focus on the here and now when they respond to an emergency. The incident and that patient’s injury or medical problem is their only concern until they complete their documentation and make themselves available for the next call.
An individual patient contact is a view into EMS. Aggregation of ePCR data across a service, region or state is another lens into EMS. But to fully gauge the state of EMS, it is important to look at the past, the present and future of the industry. The third year of the EMS Trend Report continues the effort of EMS1, Fitch & Associates and the National EMS Management Association to identify changes and trends over time. Some of those revelations have conformed to expectations, while others have defied predictions. This year’s EMS Trend Report is no different.
This year, the EMS Trend Report survey not only includes responses from the EMS Trend Report Cohort – a group of diverse agencies meant to serve as a stable sample of the industry – but also from more than a thousand EMS professionals.
All of us have a responsibility to the profession to propose actions EMS leaders can take to act on these revelations, differences of perception and concerns for the future.
We encourage your feedback and want to hear your thoughts on the 2018 EMS Trend Report and where the profession is going. Share this report, discuss the findings and send us your thoughts at [email protected].
Jay Fitch, PhD Guillermo Fuentes, MBA Fitch & Associates
Greg Friese, MS, NRP EMS1.com